In Britain, many are wondering why there has been such a dramatic increase in alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) in 2020 compared to 2019. While some point their finger at COVID related anxiety others are blaming the lockdowns and their related job losses, financial stress and social isolation as the real reason. Caused by excessive drinking, ARLD kills approximately 8,000 people during a typical year in Britain.

The Daily Mail explains:

The number of patients admitted to hospital for alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) surged last year, amid concerns from experts that many people turned to drink due to anxiety about the pandemic.

The liver unit at King’s College Hospital in London compared admissions in June 2020 with those in June 2019. It found a 48.5 per cent increase in admissions related to alcohol abuse, with a quarter of those admitted requiring intensive care to treat the potentially deadly condition.

Doctors believe the problem could be endemic, with recent analysis from Public Health England showing the number of people drinking excessively doubled between February and March following the first Covid lockdown, matching the pattern seen at King’s.

READ: HEALTH NOTES: Surge in patients admitted to hospital for alcohol-related liver disease amid concerns many people turned to drink due to anxiety about the pandemic

RELATED: Three quarters of Brits are more worried about impact of lockdown restrictions than catching coronavirus, poll finds

Why many believe the lockdown cure is worse than the virus:

READ: Overdose Deaths Explode In Ohio County After Lockdown, Coroner Cites Joblessness

READ: Depression Among Children Has Increased ‘Substantially’ Under Lockdown: Study

READ: Solitary confinement: 4 in 5 seniors have felt more anxious, depressed during pandemic

READ: 50,000 Children’s Surgeries Postponed, Deaths on Transplant Waiting List Near-Doubled Due to Lockdown: Report

READ: COVID-19-related mental health disorders will cause increased suicides, drug overdoses: researchers warn

READ: More youth are dying of suicide, overdose than COVID-19 during pandemic: CDC director

READ: U.S. Lockdowns Trigger Surge in Domestic Violence

READ: U.S. Lockdowns Trigger Surge in Domestic Violence

READ: A Major Crisis Deepened During The Covid Lockdowns: Opioids

READ: Report: Suicide rise from lockdowns to kill more than coronavirus in Australia

READ: COVID-19-related mental health disorders will cause increased suicides, drug overdoses: researchers warn

READ: LOCKDOWN ‘JUST THE FINAL STEP’: Divorce woes increase with second wave of COVID

READ: Lockdowns around the world bring rise in domestic violence

READ: California doctors say they’ve seen more deaths from suicide than coronavirus since lockdown

READ: ‘Calamitous’: domestic violence set to soar by 20% during global lockdown

READ: Suicide, help hotline calls soar in Southern California over coronavirus anxieties

READ: Lockdown-inspired suicides on course to DWARF coronavirus deaths in Australia & in time, even in US – studies

READ: Depression Has Skyrocketed During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Study Says

READ: Psychiatrists warn of negative effects of lockdown on mental health

READ: UK lockdown causing ‘serious mental illness in first-time patients’

READ: Problem drinking soars under UK lockdown, say addiction experts

READ: New thinking on COVID lockdowns: They’re overly blunt and costly

READ: Critics say lockdowns will be more damaging than the virus. Experts say it’s a false choice