the deadliest drug
A new kind of liver crisis
Nitashia Johnson for STAT
When Stephen Silva-Brave (above) became a father at age 20, he put his college plans on hold to pursue stable work in the finance sector. Binge drinking was a major part of the culture, and eventually, he was drinking every night. He’d stop by a gas station on his way home from work and buy a couple of Four Lokos, the infamous beverage that, in one can, contained the same amount of alcohol as five beers and double the sugar as a can of soda.
“That could have had something to do with why I got cirrhosis so young,” said Silva-Brave, who developed late-stage disease by age 32. But it wasn’t just drinking — he lived off highly processed snacks and lunches from a 7-Eleven. He sat on the couch every night, not exercising. The top causes of liver disease are metabolic disease and alcohol. But data suggest more and more, the combination of the two will be a major driver.
In the first installment of “The Deadliest Drug,” STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher examined how alcohol is wreaking havoc on Americans’ health. The next story, published today, explores the growing danger of combining heavy drinking with existing metabolic disease and bad eating habits. Read more on who’s at risk and how it plays out.
climate
Extreme heat is worsening faster for Black Americans
Across the U.S., hospitalizations due to extreme heat are increasing. But a study published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine found that rates are increasing faster for Black adults than their white peers. And on average, people living in ZIP codes with the lowest average income are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized due to heat than people in the wealthiest areas.
Researchers analyzed data on adult hospitalizations for heat-related illness between May and September every year from 1998 to 2022. In 1998, Black people in many regions had similar rates of hospitalizations from heat as their white neighbors. But the disparities widened, particularly in the Midwest and West, where in 2022, more than 80 Black people per million were hospitalized due to heat, as opposed to around 60 white people per million in the South and closer to 40 white people per million in the West.
As former STAT editor Karen Pennar reported in 2023, emergency physicians are using whatever tools they have at their disposal — like freezers of ice and body bags — to prepare for a future of extreme heat. And a First Opinion essay published this morning argues government assistant programs need to better prioritize access to air conditioning.
