Reality Show Death Spotlights Cirrhosis Risk

March 19, 2008— -- Drunken driving accidents. Alcohol poisoning. Blackouts. Hangovers.

Such drawbacks of heavy alcohol consumption are familiar to young drinkers who overconsume. But a recent episode of a popular reality show may add one more potential risk to the list. And it is one that many alcoholics in their 20s and 30s may not expect: cirrhosis.

On Monday, A&E's "Intervention" showcased the story of Lawrence Ryan, a 34-year-old entrepreneur with severe alcoholism.

According to the show, Ryan — who was also a cancer survivor — would often drink a liter of vodka a day. And along with his heavy dependence came the usual set of problems associated with alcohol addiction.

But in the end, it was cirrhosis — a gradual encroachment of scar tissue within the liver, blocking blood flow through the organ — that cost Ryan his life. He died Feb. 22.

While the risks of cirrhosis are usually far from the minds of alcoholics who are Ryan's age, alcoholism experts say the disease is not unheard of among younger patients.

"It is not unusual to see an alcoholic in the last stages of alcoholism develop cirrhosis, and Lawrence died the way most cirrhotic patients die, from ruptured esophageal varices," says Dr. Nicholas Pace, clinical associate professor of medicine at NYU Medical Center who is on the board of directors of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

"This is not very common, but it does occur," agrees Dr. Fred Berger, Medical Director of the Scripps McDonald Center and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Berger says he has treated many patients whose alcohol addiction has led to cirrhosis. And not all of them have been in their 50s and 60s.

"Major life problems from alcohol often start showing up in patients' 30s," he says. "Fatty infiltration of the liver from obesity also can lead to cirrhosis in young people."

Though some of the more dramatic impacts of alcohol abuse may get more attention, cirrhosis is actually the 12th leading cause of death by disease, responsible for killing about 26,000 Americans each year, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).