Hospitalizations related to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are on the rise, and baby boomers appear to be driving the increase, MD Mag reports.

A new study presented at the 2018 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Liver Meeting found that ALD hospitalizations increased nearly 12 percent between 2008 and 2014. The greatest increases were seen among women, Asians, Latinos and people between 50 and 69 years old.

For the study, researchers sourced data from the 2008 to 2014 National Inpatient Sample medical database, identifying ALD-related hospitalizations and cirrhosis and cirrhosis-related complications by their codes. (Alcoholic liver disease accounts for up to 48 percent of cirrhosis-related deaths in the country.)

Of 479,372 ALD-related hospitalizations researchers uncovered, the mean age of patients was 53.3 ±11.5 years. Nearly 72 percent of patients were male, and 62 percent were non-Hispanic white. Among women, ALD-related hospitalizations increased by nearly 20 percent, compared with a 9 percent increase among men. Asian people saw the greatest rise in ALD-related hospitalizations, increasing 46 percent. Latinos saw a 40 percent increase, while hospitalization increased 32 percent among African Americans and 26 percent among non-Hispanic whites.

Click here to learn why rates are on the rise among young people.