Chronic liver disease affects both men and women similarly

A new comprehensive study shows women are not more likely to die of liver cirrhosis than men, demonstrating that this chronic liver disease affects both men and women similarly. Previous studies have suggested women might have higher mortality of cirrhosis of the liver than men. Women are also less likely to receive liver transplantation. But the research was unclear. The study showed women with cirrhosis have lower overall mortality but no difference in liver-related cause of death despite a lower rate of liver transplantation compared to men. The study was recently published in the Journal of Hepatology. Cirrhosis is a leading cause of death estimated to affect more than 4 million people in the United States. Although alcohol is a top cause of liver disease, most patients with cirrhosis do not have alcohol-related liver disease. The top causes of liver disease in the United States are due to a virus, Hepatitis C, and Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis associated with obesity. Investigators analyzed a cohort of 20,045 patients with cirrhosis using a Chicago-wide electronic health record database that was linked with the United Network for Organ Sharing and the state death registry cause of death data.