The cirrhosis epidemic in the UK: evaluating the causes in a European context
Abstract
'Epidemic' is defined as the occurrence of many cases of a disease within an area, whereas 'pandemic' is used to emphasize its occurrence over a wide geographical area. This article reviews the epidemiology of cirrhosis in Europe and particularly within Britain, illustrating the different mortality trends in different countries. The rapid rise in mortality rate in Scotland is discussed and potential explanations explored. The major causes of cirrhosis that are increasing, namely alcohol abuse, hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, are reviewed. Hepatitis B, of course, remains a major cause of cirrhosis worldwide but is not responsible for the recent increased deaths from cirrhosis discussed in this article. The burden of this disease, which largely consists of variceal hemorrhage, hepatocellular carcinoma and orthotopic liver transplantation, are also discussed.
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Rising hepatitis C prevalence and a growing obesity epidemic in the UK have likely also played a role in increasing the liver cirrhosis burden over the past two decades.
“Rising hepatitis C prevalence and a growing obesity epidemic in the UK have likely also played a role in increasing the liver cirrhosis burden over the past two decades [34,68,69].”
From Liver cirrhosis mortality in 187 countries between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis (2014) · cites this paper as [68]
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Liver cirrhosis mortality in 187 countries between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis
Mokdad, A. A., Lopez, A. D., Shahraz, S., Lozano, R., Mokdad, A. H., Stanaway, J., Murray, C. J., & Naghavi, M. (2014) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0145-y · Cited by 1,129 · see citing works
- Authors
- McAvoy, N. C., & Hayes, P. C.
- Affiliations
- Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (GB)
- ORCID
- Hayes, Peter C
- Venue
- Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2007-10
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 41-45
- ISSN
- 1747-4124 (ISSN-L)
- 1747-4132
- OpenAlex
- W2153525705
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver Disease and Transplantation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
- Keywords
- liver cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis C, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis B, variceal bleeding, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation
- MeSH terms
- Disease Outbreaks, Europe, United Kingdom, Humans, Liver Cirrhosis, Prevalence
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