A new study from University College London (UCL) and other institutions has found that binge drinking, your genetic makeup, and having type-2 diabetes can all increase the risk of developing alcohol-related cirrhosis (ARC), a serious liver disease.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and is the first of its kind to explore how drinking behavior, genes, and diabetes together affect the risk of ARC.
Cirrhosis is a late stage of liver damage, and it affects about 2–3% of people around the world. The situation has gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol-related deaths rising by 20%. This makes it even more important to understand what increases the risk of liver disease.
The researchers studied data from over 312,000 adults in the UK who were active drinkers. They wanted to see how different factors—how much and how often people drank, whether they had a genetic risk for liver disease, and if they had type-2 diabetes—influenced their chances of developing ARC.
One of the most surprising findings was that how people drink may matter more than how much they drink.
People who binge drank—defined as having 12 or more units of alcohol in one day during the week—were three times more likely to develop ARC than those who didn’t binge. This suggests that drinking large amounts in a short period is especially harmful.
Another key factor was genetics. People who had a high genetic risk for ARC were four times more likely to develop the disease, even if they didn’t binge drink. That means your genes can increase your chances of liver damage, regardless of your drinking habits.
Type-2 diabetes also played a role. People with diabetes had twice the risk of ARC compared to those without it. This connection remained strong even after adjusting for drinking patterns and genetic risk.
The risk became much higher when these factors were combined. People who had all three—binge drinking, high genetic risk, and diabetes—were six times more likely to develop ARC than those who had none of these risk factors.
Dr. Linda Ng Fat, one of the lead authors, said that many past studies focused only on how much people drank. But this study shows that binge drinking is especially dangerous, even if the total amount of alcohol isn’t very high.
Dr. Gautam Mehta, another senior author, pointed out that even people with a high genetic risk can lower their chances of liver disease by avoiding binge drinking. This highlights the importance of making healthier lifestyle choices.
The researchers believe that in the future, doctors may use genetic information to give people more personalized advice about their disease risk. This could help prevent serious conditions like ARC.
Dr. Steven Bell, another co-author, said that the rise in alcohol-related deaths during the pandemic shows the urgent need for better public health strategies. He and others suggest combining medical research with stronger alcohol policies, such as taxes on alcohol, better regulation of advertising, and more public awareness about the dangers of binge drinking.
Pamela Healy, the head of the British Liver Trust, supported these ideas. She emphasized that the way people drink is just as important as how much they drink. She called for a national effort to reduce harmful drinking habits in the UK.
If you’re concerned about liver health, other studies have found that fatty liver disease may lead to more severe infections. A new drug has also shown promise for helping with both weight loss and liver health.
Other research has suggested that drinking coffee—of any kind—may lower the risk of chronic liver disease, and that eating whole grains may benefit people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The results of this new study on alcohol-related cirrhosis were published in Nature Communications.
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