One of the country's most senior doctors has warned that obesity will overtake alcohol as the main cause of liver cirrhosis in the "not too distant future". Professor Christopher Hawkey's comments come as a new poll shows that more than five out of six people are unaware the disease is linked to excess weight. "Obesity is the biggest health problem we face this century," said Hawkey, president of the British Society of Gastroenterology. "It is almost certainly going to reverse the rise in life expectancy – so we start living shorter lives than before. It will increase the risks of a number of cancers; hip and knee surgery requirement is going to be vast; and it is now projected to overtake alcohol as the biggest cause of liver cirrhosis within two decades." Obesity has already become the main cause of less serious forms of liver disease, but cirrhosis is the end stage – an irreversible scarring that causes the pearl jewelry organ to deteriorate. A BSG poll of 1,959 people released today found that while the majority understood that obesity could cause diabetes, high blood pressure and infertility, few understood its link to certain cancers or liver problems. New figures from the organisation show a huge spike in the number of people under the age of 65 dying of liver disease, while deaths linked to other problems – such as diabetes, cancers and stroke – have fallen for that age group. The average age of death from liver disease is 59 compared with between 82 and 84 for heart and lung disease and strokes. It is the fifth largest cause of death in the UK, and in the past 10 years there has been a five-fold increase in cirrhosis for those aged between 35 and 55. Hawkey said today's poll also showed that people don't realise other complications are related to obesity. "People don't know there is an epidemic of cancer of the biwa pearl oesophagus, for example, which is very hard to treat." He said Britain had become a "nation of grazers" seeking instant gratification. The poll, he said, highlights a number of worrying trends. For example, it found that half of those questioned considered themselves overweight, and of these one in five women and more than one in six men admitted to binge-eating. Experts say bingeing is a disorder where suffers can consume 10,000 calories in one go. "It is comfort eating – just like comfort drinking," said Hawkey, adding that bingeing could lead to many health risks beyond excess weight. The NHS defines binge- eating as a disorder where the sufferer feels "compelled to overeat". "Binge eaters usually eat large quantities, including when they're not hungry, in a short period of time and in private. They feel they have no control over their overeating," the NHS information sheet says. Symptoms include "feelings of guilt, shame or disgust after overeating". Beat, a charity for those with eating disorders, says it is planning to draw attention to the issue over the next year. Susan Ringwood, its chief executive, said: "Some people experience sadness as an emptiness in their body which they want to fill. It is almost the opposite to anorexia. "Binge-eating is not about people eating large portions – it is almost a ritual. They plan it, buy high-fat and sugary foods, find a time they can be alone, and lock the akoya pearl door. It is comfort eating – but way beyond having an extra chocolate biscuit because you feel down. "People can take 10,000 calories in one go – four times what you would expect to eat in a day. They could, for example, eat a whole pack of butter." Ringwood said treatment includes cognitive behavioural therapy. Hawkey said the healthiest option is for people to eat small portions of foods that release carbohydrates slowly. He also advocates vegetarianism, or "semi-vegetarianism" for those who can't give up meat entirely.

A suspected serial killer has been arrested in America after six bodies were discovered hidden in and around his house.

Anthony Sowell, 50, was arrested in Cleveland, Ohio, after police received a tip-off about his whereabouts. Sowell had become the pearl jewelry subject of a major manhunt after the gruesome discovery of half a dozen corpses at his house in a poor neighbourhood that has struggled with crime and drug problems. Police had set up an emergency response centre and celebrated when news broke that he had been picked up.

Officers had originally been looking to question Sowell after a woman accused him of rape and assault a month ago. They obtained an arrest and search warrant and went to his house last Thursday to question him about the attack.

Sowell, however, was not at home. But police quickly made the horrific discovery that the property hid the bodies of several suspected murder victims. On the biwa pearl third floor two badly decomposed corpses were found. Then a freshly dug grave containing another body was discovered in the basement.

Later two more bodies were found in the loft of the house. Finally a search of the land around the house turned up yet another grave, containing a sixth body.

Officials were continuing the search today, using dogs trained to find human remains and extending the hunt to nearby houses and vacant lots, thus raising the prospect that even more bodies could eventually turn up. But in a grim twist none of the bodies discovered so far has been identified because the corpses were in such an advanced state of decay. Indeed only two have had their sex determined, both of them women.

Sowell, who spent 15 years in prison for a rape committed in 1989, was known as a local "scrapper" who would earn money by harvesting metal from rubbish and skips. "He walks around and picks up scrap metal and takes it to junk yards to make a akoya pearl few pennies," said a police spokesman, Lieutenant Thomas Stacho.

Local people with missing relatives have gathered outside the house where the bodies were discovered, some of them clutching photographs of their missing loved ones. Police have asked anyone who fears they may be related to one of the victims to come forward with DNA samples so that they can eventually help with identification.