Alcoholic Liver Disease

What Is Alcoholic Liver Disease?

Alcoholic liver disease is caused due to overconsumption of alcohol. Alcoholic liver disease is the term used to indicate a group of conditions related to liver which are caused due to excessive prolong drinking of alcohol. These conditions are the fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis. Fatty liver disease is the most common manifestation of overconsumption of alcohol and is usually irreversible. Alcohol overconsumption results in inflammation and scarring of the liver. If left unmanaged, the condition may lead to serious and life-threatening complications.

What Are The Symptoms Of Alcoholic Liver Disease?

The symptoms of the alcoholic liver disease depend upon the type of condition developed in the liver.

Fatty liver disease is does not cause any symptom to most of the patients. On physical evaluation, the physician felt the liver bit enlarged and smooth. The liver is tender in rare cases. As the condition progresses to an advanced stage, the symptoms are experienced by the patient.

Alcoholic hepatitis presents itself through varying severity in different patients. Patients with alcoholic hepatitis experience nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, weight loss, loss of appetite and anorexia.

Liver cirrhosis is a serious condition and patient experiences jaundice, pruritis, hepatic encephalopathy, and ascites.

What Are The Causes Of Alcoholic Liver Disease?

As the name suggests, the cause of the alcoholic liver disease is drinking too much alcohol for a prolonged period. However, it is to be noted that not all the people engaged in overconsumption of alcohol suffer from alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol is metabolized to form a substance known as acetaldehyde. A small amount of this chemical does not cause any problem. However, when the concentration of acetaldehyde gets increased, it results in scarring and inflammation of the liver. Some people are more prone to get affected with acetaldehyde as compared to other people.

What Are The Risk Factors Associated With Alcoholic Liver Disease?

Following are some of the factors that increase the risk of alcoholic liver disease:

Women are more at risk of developing the alcoholic liver disease as compared to men.

• Hepatitis infection accelerates the progression of the disease.
• Genetic factors also indicate why some people are more susceptible to acetaldehyde formed from alcohol metabolism.
• Malnutrition along with various vitamin deficiencies increases the risk of alcoholic liver disease.
• Obesity and overweight

How Alcoholic Liver Disease Is Diagnosed?

The alcoholic liver is diagnosed through:

Physical examination: Physical examination includes jaundice, spider-web veins, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly.

Laboratory tests: Alcoholic liver disease shows abnormal readings related to liver function, coagulopathy, hypoalbuminemia, and thrombocytopenia.

Imaging techniques: Various imaging techniques such as ultrasound and CT scan are done to evaluate the extent of liver enlargement.

What Are The Treatment Options For Alcoholic Liver Disease?

Some of the treatment options available for patients suffering from the alcoholic liver disease include:

Avoiding alcohol: Patient should completely refrain himself from drinking alcohol. Any alcohol in liver cirrhosis may prove fatal.

Lifestyle changes: The patient should maintain his weight and quit smoking as this may accelerate the progression of the disease.

Medications: Various medications are indicated for alcoholic liver disease including anti-inflammatory drugs, and probiotic and prebiotic supplements. Certain antibiotics are also used to treat the infection. Other medications are prescribed based on the stage and severity of the disease.

Liver transplant: If the non-invasive methods are not providing any comfort to the patient and not improving the symptoms, a liver transplant is advised.