Liver transplants associated with alcohol growing in young adults

A growing number of American youth are drinking their way to the organ transplant list – especially women.

Alcohol is the leading cause of liver disease, according to the National Institute of Health.

Dr. James Burton, a liver transplant expert in Colorado, said this is a new and alarming change.

A decade ago, they were mostly men in the 1950s and 60s who needed liver transplants, he noted.

“We started seeing not only more women, but [more] Young women in the 20s and 30s, ”said Burton, a professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Colorado of Medicine, told Fox News.

“I had never seen young women need liver transplants at that age – and that’s not unique to us. This is a problem all over America,” the doctor added.

Some patients who need alcohol -related liver transplants are as young as the early 20th and began to drink alcohol in their adolescence years, Burton said.

The liver disease associated with alcohol leads to nearly 50% of all liver transplantation surgeries, he noted.

“There are people who probably don’t drink every day, but they drink a lot on weekends – and maybe they have eight to 10 drinks. That’s just as bad,” Burton said.

Things took a turn during Covid-19 blockages, he noted when more people drank too much at home.

Plus, women process alcohol unlike men, Burton warned.

Emma Lillibridge, 31, said she never thought she would become a liver transplant receiver.

The Colorado woman went to the hospital with an illness and was shocked when she discovered the expansion of her health issues, she told Fox News.

Doctors told Lillibridge that she would need surgery, as severe alcohol consumption during the 20s had led to the failed health of her liver, she noted.

“I didn’t know what I was getting inside. I entered the hospital thinking I had pneumonia and left with a new liver five weeks later, ”Lillibridge said.

“In a beer factory, I worked behind the scenes as well, as in the current Brew house, creating beer. So I was surrounded by a ton of men who were simply scratching beer 24/7,” Lillibridge said.

“So it wasn’t uncommon for me during a change, the people walking up saying,” Make a beer shot with me. “”

At a time when Lillibridge was 30 years old, she was told she needed a transplant to save her life.

Now she is sharing her story to help save others.

“I really think people don’t know how the heavy drinking is normal in our culture, so they don’t see that they have a problem until they take a look,” she added.

Lillibridge received her liver transplant operation in October 2023. She told Fox News that she is now sober, healthy and again at her feet.

She has started a new job and plans to get married soon.