Last year, more than two hundred people died in Latvia from alcohol-related liver diseases. Most of the deceased were men, and the highest number of deaths was recorded in the age group of 50-59 years. Specialists warn: many of these cases could have been avoided if people had sought help in a timely manner.
Mortality from alcohol-related liver diseases in Latvia remains one of the highest in Europe, and the reality is harsh — every day someone dies from preventable consequences, reports TV3 Ziņas.
Addiction specialists note: one of the main difficulties in combating alcoholism is that many do not recognize the problem. People seek help too late, often when their health has seriously deteriorated.
The head of the outpatient consulting department of the Riga Centre for Psychiatry and Addiction, Inga Ladsman, explains:
“It's denial — denial of one's illness, when a person cannot see the connection between consumption and the consequences it causes. However, it is worth noting: when physical health problems arise, these individuals react more quickly — it worries them a little.”
At the same time, doctors acknowledge: in recent years, positive trends have been noticeable. If previously addressing alcohol-related issues often began only after family intervention, now more people are approaching specialists who recognize the risks themselves.
Ladsman notes:
“Now young people are seeking help — perhaps not yet with symptoms of addiction, but with excessive alcohol consumption, when they themselves have seen that this is a problem and want to solve it because they couldn't do it on their own.”
Hepatologists warn separately: liver diseases can often progress without symptoms. This is one of the most dangerous alcohol-related consequences — a person simply does not feel that their liver is being damaged.
The head of the liver diseases department at the Latvian Centre for Infectology, Ieva Tolmane, says:
“The liver is an organ that does not hurt, so when consuming alcohol, a person does not feel warning signals and is often surprised to find themselves in the hospital with jaundice, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, or gastrointestinal bleeding — conditions that are already life-threatening. As a society, we need to learn to live differently. We need to learn to celebrate without alcohol and live without it, because the inherited notion that a celebration is impossible without alcohol needs to change.”
Specialists remind: the only way to protect oneself from alcohol-related liver diseases is to refrain from excessive alcohol consumption. The sooner the problem is noticed, the higher the chance of avoiding severe consequences.
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