Alcohol-related liver disease

From Drug Rehab Wiki

The liver helps to process and eliminate alcohol from the body. Excessive drinking, however, damages the liver and interferes with the liver’s ability to ‘detoxify’ the system. Over time, there are three common types of alcohol-related liver problems that can develop as a result of excessive drinking. These are:

• fatty liver

• alcoholic hepatitis

• alcoholic cirrhosis

Each of these conditions is a specific medical illness in itself, but each is also part of an alcohol-related and progressive liver disease process. Initially, individuals who use alcohol in excess develop fatty liver. This is the first stage of alcohol-induced liver problems.

Hepatitis

If alcohol use continues at the stage of fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis may develop. Alcoholic hepatitis is the second illness on the continuum of alcohol-induced liver disease and is considered to be a significantly more serious condition. Finally, if drinking continues at this stage, individuals with alcoholic hepatitis may eventually develop alcoholic cirrhosis.

Almost all individuals who abuse alcohol will develop fatty liver. It is caused and prolonged by alcohol use and generally will subside with abstinence. This condition does not always have symptoms that would alert the drinker, but at times there may be abdominal swelling and discomfort.

The second condition, alcoholic hepatitis or inflammation of the liver caused by alcohol use, does have distinctive and detectable symptoms. These can include:

• abdominal pain • abdominal tenderness • nausea • stomach distress • loss of appetite • vomiting • jaundice

This condition ranges in severity from mild to life-threatening. For some with mild alcoholic hepatitis, the illness may persist for years. The damage from mild alcoholic hepatitis can often be reversed with abstinence from alcohol. Some, however, especially after severe binge drinking, may abruptly develop a type of alcoholic hepatitis that is life-threatening. All cases of alcoholic hepatitis may cause progressive liver damage. Not all such damage can be reversed.

Cirrhosis

The third alcohol-related liver condition is alcoholic cirrhosis. This is the most severe type of alcohol-induced liver disease. Cirrhosis occurs when the liver becomes scarred by the chronic use of alcohol. This condition is not reversible, but may be stabilized by abstinence from alcohol. Alcoholic cirrhosis is considered to be a severe and life-threatening illness. Some of the symptoms of cirrhosis are:

• nausea

• vomiting

• poor appetite

• abdominal swelling

• jaundice

• swollen extremities

• fatigue

• bruising

• ‘spider veins’ (broken blood vessels) on upper body

• confusion

• discolored urine

• discolored stool

Treatment for all stages of alcohol-induced liver disease begins with abstinence from alcohol use. Many will require the support of addiction treatment to stop use and so must start there. Additionally, nutrition plays a large role in managing these conditions. Some dietary restrictions may be suggested as well as dietary supplements. Vaccinations may be recommended as well to prevent other health-related conditions that would further compromise the liver. In the most severe cases a liver transplant is required.