A growing number of young Americans are drinking their way onto the organ transplant list — particularly women.
Alcohol is the top cause of liver disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. James Burton, a liver transplant expert in Colorado, said this is a new and alarming shift. A decade ago, it was mostly men in their 50s and 60s who needed liver transplants, he noted.
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"We started seeing not only more women, but [more] younger women in their 20s and 30s," Burton, a professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told Fox News.
"I had never seen young women need liver transplants at that age — and that is not unique to us. That is a problem across America," the doctor added.
Some patients in need of alcohol-related liver transplants are as young as their early 20s and started drinking alcohol in their teenage years, Burton said.
Alcohol-related liver disease leads to nearly 50% of all liver transplant surgeries, he noted.
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"There are people who maybe don't drink every day, but they drink heavily on the weekends — and maybe have eight to 10 drinks. That's equally bad," Burton said.
Things took a turn during COVID-19 lockdowns, he noted, when more people drank excessively at home.
Plus, women process alcohol differently than men, Burton cautioned.
Emma Lillibridge, 31, said she never thought she would become a liver transplant recipient. The Colorado woman went to the hospital with an illness and was shocked to discover the extent of her health issues, she told Fox News.
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Doctors told Lillibridge that she would need surgery, as heavy alcohol consumption during her 20s had led to the failing health of her liver, she noted.
"I had no idea what I was walking into. I went into the hospital thinking I had pneumonia and left with a new liver five weeks later," Lillibridge said.
"In a brewery, I worked behind the scenes too, like in the actual brew house, brewing beer. So I was surrounded by a ton of men who were just chugging beer 24/7," Lillibridge said.
"So it wasn't uncommon for me during a shift, people walking up saying, ‘Do a beer shot with me.’"
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By the time Lillibridge was 30, she was told she needed a transplant to save her life. She is now sharing her story to help save others.
"I really think that people don't recognize how normalized heavy drinking has become in our culture, so they don't see that they have a problem until they really take a look," she added.
Lillibridge received her liver transplant surgery in October 2023. She told Fox News that she is now sober, healthy and back on her feet. She has started a new job and plans to get married soon.