Each daily consumption of 12 g alcohol increases risk for cirrhosis by 6.2 percent, hepatocellular carcinoma by 11.5 percent
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with hepatitis B virus, alcohol is associated with dose-dependent increased risks for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to a review published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology.
Yin-Ping Wu, from the Qilu University Hospital of Shandong University in Jinan, China, and colleagues pooled data on the incidence of cirrhosis and HCC and developed a dose-dependent model of the effect of alcohol on cirrhosis and HCC. Data were included for 33,272 patients with hepatitis B virus from 45 studies.
The researchers found that the overall pooled odds ratios were 2.27 and 2.61 for cirrhosis and HCC, respectively, among drinkers versus nondrinkers. Compared with low-level drinkers, high-level drinkers had estimated pooled odds ratios of 2.34 and 2.42 for cirrhosis and HCC, respectively. A linear dose-dependent analysis showed that each daily consumption of 12 g of alcohol increased the risks for cirrhosis and HCC by 6.2 and 11.5 percent, respectively.
“Our meta-analysis is the first report to show that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cirrhosis and HCC in patients with HBV infection in a dose-dependent manner,” the authors write.
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