Researchers say Hispanics are affected by Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) more than any other ethnicity in the United States.

Lead researcher Valentina Medici, MD, associate professor of internal medicine at UC Davis Health System, revealed new data that showed Hispanics experience ALD as much as 10 years sooner when compared to African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites.

"For the first time, we showed that Hispanics present at a four to 10 years younger age than Caucasians and African-Americans, and that ethnicity could predict the age of presentation of alcoholic fatty liver and alcoholic hepatitis," Medici said in a press release. "In addition, alcoholic Hispanics tend to be more frequently obese and diabetic than the other ethnicities, indicative of a possibly more severe disease."

The stages of ALD include alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis. The progression of ALD can be stopped if an individual refrains from drinking at the earliest stage, alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, this stage often has no symptoms.

Medici and the other doctors involved in the study reviewed 791 patients with ALD who were admitted to UC Davis Medical Center between 2002 and 2010. Of these patients, 130 had alcoholic fatty liver, 154 had alcoholic hepatitis and 507 had alcoholic cirrhosis.

The analysis showed Hispanic patients had alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis between four and 10 years younger than white patients and alcoholic cirrhosis five years younger than black patients.

Hispanic patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic fatty liver were more likely to be obese.

Compared to the white or black patients, Hispanics were more likely to be binge drinkers.

"Hispanics may find it important to know that heavy drinkers can develop ALD at a younger age, that obesity contributes to this risk and that preventative steps should be taken if their relatives or friends engage in risky drinking behavior," Medici said.

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