5 ms·

Liver disease is likely linked to the continuously rising obesity levels: > "adult obesity rates now exceed 35% in nine states, 30% in 31 states and 25% in 48

by vfc1 7y ago

Liver disease is likely linked to the continuously rising obesity levels: > "adult obesity rates now exceed 35% in nine states, 30% in 31 states and 25% in 48 states." https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/adult-obesity/ https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/adult-obesity/ More people are now dying earlier from liver disease, instead of dying later of for example diabetes or heart disease. In more cases, the liver is failing first due to lifetime obesity problems.

Dumblydorr 7y ago
Yes, obesity is an epidemic, and we are also seeing drug overdose and suicide as two major causes of death for white men in America. Those disproportionately affect rural, middle aged folks with less economic and social prospects.
faissaloo 7y ago
Could it also be alcohol consumption? Seems consistent with drug use.
- vfc1 7y ago
  It's probably both, obesity has been continuously rising but has alcohol consumption too? Alcoholics drinks also contribute to obesity as they pack quite a bit of calories, and are addictive in nature.
- brudgers 7y ago
  The top decile of American drinkers average 74 drinks a week. A lot of people. A lot of drinks. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think...
  - WhompingWindows 7y ago
    That is mind boggling! Let's say it was 10 bud lights, LIGHTS mind you... at 145 calories each, that'd be 1,450 calories, or 73% of someone's daily 2000 calories EVERY DAY.
    - JamesBarney 7y ago
      Calories from ethanol don't really work like other calories. The body is incredibly inefficient at using or storing calories from Ethanol. This is why most heavy drinkers aren't incredibly obese.
      - rubber_duck 7y ago
        This is what I don't get with regards to calorie labels. As far as I can tell they either burn stuff to see how much energy gets released or count up macro nutrients and multiply by x calories. But if you pay attention it should be obvious that you don't digest all foods equally well and I would say the variance can be on the order of 20-30%. Do they account for this when labeling food ?
  - P_I_Staker 7y ago
    Just for clarity you're not talking about top decile of the general population; just drinkers? I've heard numbers more like 5% - 1/20. Either way it's a ton of people
    - ls612 7y ago
      No, it’s the top decile of all people (presumably adults). The bottom three deciles don’t drink at all.
      - P_I_Staker 7y ago
        Interesting, the numbers that I looked at a few months ago weren't quite so pesimistic. 1 out of 20 and the average amount was also lower (like 40). Perhaps I remember incorrectly, or am thinking of another country.
        brudgers 7y ago
        40 is about a six pack a day seven days a week.
- nabla9 7y ago
  Not according to CDC. Increased mortality is caused by nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
  - theNJR 7y ago
    The rise of NAFLD is pretty crazy. Took doctors by surprise about a decade ago. “What do you mean you don’t drink? Look at your liver!”
    - hef19898 7y ago
      That disease is also not related to obesity. Funny thing that NAFLD.
      - theNJR 7y ago
        No? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575093/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575093/
        hef19898 7y ago
        Well, I know of at least one case that isn't. So the better way to put would be not always related to obesity.
      - copperx 7y ago
        It is. It has been also linked with bacteria that produce alcohol endogenously.
- bart_spoon 7y ago
  As long as we are speculating, I wonder if sleep deprivation is another. I have no data, but my hunch is that the rise of smartphones, never ending feeds of infotainment on the internet, on-demand streaming services, and the decline of the "9-5" work culture in favor of the gig-economy and startup "hustle porn" mean people aren't getting nearly as much sleep as they used to, which leads to all kinds of disastrous health outcomes.
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    Ever do shift work? Later: Seriously. Shift work is terrible for sleep and has been a fact of industrialized life for a lot longer than the gig economy.
- perseusprime11 7y ago
  I am almost certain that this is 100% alcohol-related. The book headstrong opened my eyes to the problems of alcohol even in moderation.
  - TurkishPoptart 7y ago
    The book by the Bulletproof Coffee guy? Do tell.
  - P_I_Staker 7y ago
    I agree about alcohol use being more problematic than people realize. That said, has there been a rise in drinking over that timespan? According to other comments, the answer is no.
  - turk73 7y ago
    You know what else is 100% alcohol-related? Our current political mess. Politicians drink a ton. A. Ton. Have them tested as a requirement of being in office and cut that crap out and then we can also elect responsible people who don't drink or do drugs.
- Dirlewanger 7y ago
  Drug use has been declining for decades though, so don't think it'd be that
- throwaway5752 7y ago
  Don't make speculation. Compare US drinking across other countries, and compare it against prior years and look at correlation. That isn't it. Read https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf which is the source for the article. You can look at page 29 of that report or https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/cirrhosis https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/c... for more information and trend data. It is NAFLD and obesity.
idoubtit 7y ago
> "adult obesity rates now exceed 35% in nine states, 30% in 31 states and 25% in 48 states." The source for the above data is a telephone survey for the CDC. The NCHS regularly conducts a survey on the same subject for the same CDC, but with added physical examinations. Their data is much worse, over 39.5 % of USA adults were obese in 2016. The rate was almost constantly increasing over the past years. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf p.5

by vfc1 7y ago

Dumblydorr 7y ago

Yes, obesity is an epidemic, and we are also seeing drug overdose and suicide as two major causes of death for white men in America. Those disproportionately affect rural, middle aged folks with less economic and social prospects.

faissaloo 7y ago

Could it also be alcohol consumption? Seems consistent with drug use.

vfc1 7y ago
It's probably both, obesity has been continuously rising but has alcohol consumption too? Alcoholics drinks also contribute to obesity as they pack quite a bit of calories, and are addictive in nature.
brudgers 7y ago
The top decile of American drinkers average 74 drinks a week. A lot of people. A lot of drinks. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think...
- WhompingWindows 7y ago
  That is mind boggling! Let's say it was 10 bud lights, LIGHTS mind you... at 145 calories each, that'd be 1,450 calories, or 73% of someone's daily 2000 calories EVERY DAY.
  - JamesBarney 7y ago
    Calories from ethanol don't really work like other calories. The body is incredibly inefficient at using or storing calories from Ethanol. This is why most heavy drinkers aren't incredibly obese.
    - rubber_duck 7y ago
      This is what I don't get with regards to calorie labels. As far as I can tell they either burn stuff to see how much energy gets released or count up macro nutrients and multiply by x calories. But if you pay attention it should be obvious that you don't digest all foods equally well and I would say the variance can be on the order of 20-30%. Do they account for this when labeling food ?
- P_I_Staker 7y ago
  Just for clarity you're not talking about top decile of the general population; just drinkers? I've heard numbers more like 5% - 1/20. Either way it's a ton of people
  - ls612 7y ago
    No, it’s the top decile of all people (presumably adults). The bottom three deciles don’t drink at all.
    - P_I_Staker 7y ago
      Interesting, the numbers that I looked at a few months ago weren't quite so pesimistic. 1 out of 20 and the average amount was also lower (like 40). Perhaps I remember incorrectly, or am thinking of another country.
      - brudgers 7y ago
        40 is about a six pack a day seven days a week.
nabla9 7y ago
Not according to CDC. Increased mortality is caused by nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
- theNJR 7y ago
  The rise of NAFLD is pretty crazy. Took doctors by surprise about a decade ago. “What do you mean you don’t drink? Look at your liver!”
  - hef19898 7y ago
    That disease is also not related to obesity. Funny thing that NAFLD.
    - theNJR 7y ago
      No? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575093/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575093/
      - hef19898 7y ago
        Well, I know of at least one case that isn't. So the better way to put would be not always related to obesity.
    - copperx 7y ago
      It is. It has been also linked with bacteria that produce alcohol endogenously.
bart_spoon 7y ago
As long as we are speculating, I wonder if sleep deprivation is another. I have no data, but my hunch is that the rise of smartphones, never ending feeds of infotainment on the internet, on-demand streaming services, and the decline of the "9-5" work culture in favor of the gig-economy and startup "hustle porn" mean people aren't getting nearly as much sleep as they used to, which leads to all kinds of disastrous health outcomes.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  Ever do shift work? Later: Seriously. Shift work is terrible for sleep and has been a fact of industrialized life for a lot longer than the gig economy.
perseusprime11 7y ago
I am almost certain that this is 100% alcohol-related. The book headstrong opened my eyes to the problems of alcohol even in moderation.
- TurkishPoptart 7y ago
  The book by the Bulletproof Coffee guy? Do tell.
- P_I_Staker 7y ago
  I agree about alcohol use being more problematic than people realize. That said, has there been a rise in drinking over that timespan? According to other comments, the answer is no.
- turk73 7y ago
  You know what else is 100% alcohol-related? Our current political mess. Politicians drink a ton. A. Ton. Have them tested as a requirement of being in office and cut that crap out and then we can also elect responsible people who don't drink or do drugs.
Dirlewanger 7y ago
Drug use has been declining for decades though, so don't think it'd be that
throwaway5752 7y ago
Don't make speculation. Compare US drinking across other countries, and compare it against prior years and look at correlation. That isn't it. Read https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf which is the source for the article. You can look at page 29 of that report or https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/cirrhosis https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/c... for more information and trend data. It is NAFLD and obesity.

idoubtit 7y ago

> "adult obesity rates now exceed 35% in nine states, 30% in 31 states and 25% in 48 states." The source for the above data is a telephone survey for the CDC. The NCHS regularly conducts a survey on the same subject for the same CDC, but with added physical examinations. Their data is much worse, over 39.5 % of USA adults were obese in 2016. The rate was almost constantly increasing over the past years. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf p.5