ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly outlines some epidemiological aspects of cirrhosis. It discusses the relationship between the magnitude of alcohol-related health and social problems in populations and the general level of alcohol consumption. Alcohol causes not only cirrhosis; it is also a factor in the aetiology of gastritis, pancreatitis, cardiomyopathy, peripheral neuropathy and toxic psychosis. Mortality rates from cirrhosis vary greatly from country to country. Over the past two decades, cirrhosis mortality has been increasing at a steady and often rapid rate in most parts of the world. The rate of increase was generally greater in males than in females. Cirrhosis death rates are sensitive to the age distribution. In liver disease, the classical natural experiment occurred in France during the Second World War. Individual alcohol consumption covers a wide range of doses from an occasional drink taken to mark a special occasion to the sometimes lethal quantities consumed by alcoholics.
