This is a measure of early death, likely to be pre-retirement age, and states the total number of years lost by adults who die early.
The study predicted that by 2020, liver disease will have overtaken heart disease with 80,000 working years lost annually.
By comparison there will be fewer than 76,000 working years lost to heart disease, and the number will continue to fall. Professor Nick Sheron, a liver expert from the University of Southampton involved in the research, said many deaths occurred in middle-aged adults.
He said: ‘These are young and middle-aged people. I did a ward round two to three weeks ago and a third of patients were under 40.’
The authors, whose study was published in the Lancet medical journal, urged the Government to follow Scotland in imposing a minimum price for alcohol.
Last month the Scottish Government announced that from May 2018, alcohol would be charged at a minimum price of 50p per unit.
Judi Rhys, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said: ‘Many of us are putting our livers at risk from drinking too much alcohol.
‘The shocking numbers highlighted show that we are facing a liver disease crisis. There is an enormous cost benefit to addressing liver disease early and we should make sure that primary care practitioners have all of the tools and levers they need to enable early diagnosis and prevention.’
