high cholesterol<\/a>.<\/p>\nMore than half of the adults in the study reported occasional heavy drinking, including nearly 16% of those with MASLD.\u00a0<\/p>\nMore than half of the adults in the study reported occasional heavy drinking, including nearly 16% of those with MASLD.\u00a0 Garun Studios \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOccasional heavy drinking (four or more drinks in one day for women and five or more drinks for men, at least once each month) was linked to at least triple the chance of advanced liver fibrosis, compared to the same amount spread over a longer period of time, the researchers found.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key takeaway is that the pattern matters very much, and\u00a0episodic heavy drinking\u00a0is an incredibly common pattern right now among US adults,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
Younger adults and men were more likely to engage in occasional binge-drinking, the study found. The more drinks consumed during each session, the greater the liver scarring.<\/p>\n
The findings were published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0pattern of drinking\u00a0is important, not just the average, Lee noted. \u201cMany patients ask if they don\u2019t drink on weekdays, whether they can drink more on weekends \u2014 like a weekly \u2018quota\u2019 \u2014 and our study is showing that the answer is no,\u201d Lee told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis pattern of episodic heavy drinking is especially bad when compared to spreading out alcohol consumption over a longer period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n