Aurora, Colorado. – More and more young Americans are drinking organ transplant lists, especially women.
According to the National Institutes of Health, alcohol is the biggest cause of liver disease.
Dr. James Burton, a Colorado liver transplant expert, said this is a new and surprising change. Ten years ago, most men in their 50s and 60s needed a liver transplant, he pointed out.
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“We’ve started watching (more) young women in their 20s and 30s,” Fox News said, Burton, a professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“We never saw a young woman need a liver transplant at that age. It’s not unique to us. It’s a problem across the US,” the doctor added.
Photographed by Dr. James Burton, a liver transplant expert in Colorado, highlighted the surprising changes in the number of young people who need a liver transplant. (Kennedy Hayes/Fox News)
Some patients requiring alcohol-related liver transplants were as young as in their early 20s and began drinking alcohol in their teens, Burton said.
Alcohol-related liver disease leads to almost 50% of all liver transplant surgery, he noted.
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“I might not drink every day, but I drink a lot on the weekends. I probably drink eight or ten drinks, and that’s just as bad,” Burton said.
Things changed during the Covid-19 lockdown, he pointed out when more people over-engulfed them at home.
More people have over-exhausted at home during Covid-19 lockdown, liver health experts said. (istock)
Furthermore, women handle alcohol in a different way than men, Burton warned.
Emma Lilibridge, 31, said she never thought she would become a liver transplant recipient. The Colorado woman was shocked to go to hospital due to illness and discovering the extent of her health problems, she told Fox News.
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Doctors told Lilibridge that she needed surgery as heavily alcohol consumption during her 20s led to a breakdown in liver health, she noted.
“I didn’t know what I was walking. I went to the hospital thinking I had pneumonia and left a new liver five weeks later,” Lilibridge said.
31-year-old Emma Lilibridge (pictured) went to the hospital due to illness and was shocked to discover that she needed a kidney transplant. (Kennedy Hayes/Fox News)
“At the brewery, I worked behind the scenes like a real brewery, a brewery beer. So I was surrounded by a lot of guys drinking beer 24/7,” Lilibridge said. said.
“So it wasn’t uncommon for me during the shift.
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By the time Lillibridge turned 30, she was told she needed a transplant to save her life. She is now sharing her story to help save others.
After undergoing liver transplant surgery by the age of 30, Lilibridge (pictured) shares her story to save others. (Emmariri Bridge/Fox News)
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“I don’t think people are aware of how normal heavy drinking has turned out in our culture, so I don’t think there’s a problem until they really see it,” she added.
Lilllibridge underwent liver transplant surgery in October 2023. She told Fox News that she is now calm and healthy and back to her feet. She starts a new job and plans to get married soon.
