A leading consultant has urged people to lower their alcohol intake as he suggests many people’s Covid-19 drinking habits have stayed around.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Professor John Ryan, Consultant Hepatologist at Beaumont Hospital, explained that liver disease is currently in the top five killers in the country, with more than half of adults living with chronic liver disease.
Professor Ryan told the radio show: "Particularly during Covid-19 we got into a habit of having maybe a glass of wine in the evenings, and that can turn into half a bottle of wine and then a bottle of wine.
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"Over seven days, that could be 70 units of alcohol, it adds up very quickly. A lot of people that I'd see and they have very significant liver disease or even cirrhosis, they kind of wished that they had realised this and kind of stopped it in time.
"For those people who are susceptible, Covid-19 certainly accelerated a lot of it. You just don't even realise it, and it's everywhere and it's so ingrained in our culture I suppose."
To help, Professor Ryan suggested that introducing non-drinking days in the week can be a “huge benefit”.
"If someone has cirrhosis or very advanced liver disease, they just really can't drink at all.
"If you have an element of fatty liver disease or a milder form of liver disease, you would advise that someone would, say, just don't drink anything from Sunday to Thursday.
"It's a huge benefit - your body would then have a little bit of breather, or your liver has a breather.
"Why don't you get a zero per cent alcohol, that's a good alternative - or if you're going to go out, try to look for lower strength alternatives. All those kinds of things do add up to reduce the harm.”
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