Alcohol is muscling its way into the top spot on Colorado’s transplant charts, and not in a good way. Transplant specialists say alcohol-related liver disease now makes up nearly half of the liver transplants performed at UCHealth, a rapid shift that has them treating younger and sicker patients while scrambling to build addiction care into every step of the process. Families and advocates around Denver say that kind of change also calls for more recovery resources and long-term follow-up.
UCHealth’s running tally comes to roughly 45 percent of liver transplants tied to alcohol-related liver disease, according to 9News. Reporters and physicians alike note that the number reflects a sharp shift in the transplant caseload, with many pointing to heavier drinking during and after the COVID-19 pandemic as a major factor.
At the University of Colorado Hospital, transplant medical director Dr. James Burton told UCHealth that his team is now seeing people in their 20s with alcohol-associated hepatitis and cirrhosis, a scenario that used to be far less common. Burton said they evaluate as many as 13 potential liver transplant candidates each week. He and his colleagues point to pandemic-era spikes in alcohol use, along with a decline in hepatitis C as a cause of liver failure, as the two big forces reshaping who ends up on the transplant list.
Young Adults And Women Are Driving The Rise
Women are taking up a much bigger share of the alcohol-related transplant picture than they did just a few years ago. As reported by 9News, women now account for roughly 30 to 40 percent of alcohol-related liver transplant patients at UCHealth, up from a much smaller proportion before the pandemic. The same reporting notes that Burton has treated patients as young as 20 for complications of heavy drinking, a stark sign that severe liver damage is showing up much earlier in life.
How Transplant Teams Are Responding
In response to the shifting landscape, transplant centers have relaxed some long-standing sobriety requirements for certain patients. UCHealth reports that its teams now identify select patients who can receive a transplant first and then move immediately into intensive addiction treatment afterward. That strategy lines up with national trends, where transplant registries and the medical literature show a growing share of liver transplants going to alcohol-associated disease and highlight the need for tight post-transplant monitoring and fully integrated addiction care, according to Liver Transplantation.
Patients And Advocates Push For Less Stigma
Advocates say the new face of liver disease means stigma has to be tackled alongside access to treatment. Jenn Jones, who survived a near-fatal bout of alcohol-associated liver disease, went on to found the peer-support group Sober Livers. She now helps connect patients with recovery resources and public health information. Her story and work are outlined on the Sober Livers site and related advocacy pages. Support circles and bridge programs that tie transplant recovery directly into addiction treatment are quickly becoming a top request from both families and clinicians.
What To Watch For And Where To Get Help
Doctors warn that early signs of serious liver trouble can include persistent fatigue, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), abdominal swelling, and fluid retention. Anyone with heavy alcohol use or worrisome symptoms is urged to get checked out by a medical professional rather than waiting for things to “clear up on their own.” Local treatment options include programs such as the Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation (CeDAR) on the Anschutz campus, and federal resources like SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP, which is listed as a starting point for referrals and planning addiction care.
