Alcohol consumption and raised body mass index (BMI) act together to increase risk of liver disease

Drinkers of 15 or more units per week in any BMI category and obese drinkers had raised relative rates for all definitions of liver disease, compared with underweight/normal weight non-drinkers.

The relative excess risk due to interaction between BMI and alcohol consumption was 5.58.

Raised BMI and alcohol consumption are both related to liver disease, with evidence of a supra-additive interaction between the two.

The occurrence of both factors in the same populations should inform health promotion and public health policies.

References:

Effect of body mass index and alcohol consumption on liver disease: analysis of data from two prospective cohort studies. BMJ 2010;340:c1240.

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

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