CHICAGO (WLS) — As a new year approaches, many people are rethinking their habits, including how much alcohol they’re drinking.
Rush University Medical Center’s Dr. Steven Flamm joined ABC7 on Tuesday night to talk about alcohol’s impact on the body.
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Flamm talked about how much alcohol it takes to develop liver disease and how alcohol impacts men and women differently.
Flamm also weighed in on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s alcohol use survey.
Facts about alcohol:
People who consume alcohol can have severe alcohol-related liver disease with as little as two drinks per day in women and three drinks per day in men.
The liver-related toxicity for alcohol is double in women compared to men.
Alcohol-associated hepatitis is a severe and life-threatening condition that can develop in a matter of weeks. It frequently happens in young people, has no good medical therapies and has a high mortality.
The only therapy for alcohol-related liver disease is alcohol abstinence.
There has been a dramatic increase in alcohol associated liver disease in the U.S., including Illinois, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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