Treatment For Alcohol Related Liver Disease

Chronic liver disease is marked by the gradual destruction of liver tissue over time. Several liver diseases fall under this category, including cirrhosis of the liver, alcoholic liver disease, liver fibrosis, hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and sarcoidosis. A healthy liver is vital to the body, so an illness or liver injury can result in serious health problems. In this article, we’ll examine the most common liver diseases and the symptoms of liver disease.

Chronic liver disease includes any long term liver diseases, such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Chronic liver conditions tend to progressively destroy liver tissue. Serious liver disease can ultimately lead to a live transplant being required. Liver diseases can sometimes be hard to diagnose because symptoms can vary according to patient. Common symptoms can include jaundice, loss of appetite, anemia, light colored stools, nose bleeds and frequent headaches.

Many people associate alcohol abuse with liver disease, since the liver processes alcohol so it can be eliminated from your body. If you consume more alcohol than the liver can process, then the resulting imbalance can injure the liver by interfering with its normal breakdown of protein, fats and carbohydrates. There are three kinds of liver diseases related to alcohol consumption: fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis, which is the most serious type of alcohol-induced liver disease. Cirrhosis refers to the replacement of normal liver tissue with scar tissue. Between 10 and 20 percent of heavy drinkers develop cirrhosis, usually after 10 or more years of drinking.

The symptoms of alcohol related liver disease are serious and include fluid in the abdomen, bleeding from veins in the esophagus, an enlarged spleen, high blood pressure in the liver, changes in mental function, coma, kidney failure and liver cancer. The first step in treatment is to stop drinking. A doctor may suggest changes in diet and certain vitamin supplements to help the liver recover from the alcohol-related damage. Medications may be needed to manage the complications caused by the liver damage. In advanced cases of cirrhosis, the only treatment option may be a liver transplant. However, active alcoholics usually do not qualify as organ recipients.

It’s important to remember that it’s possible to live for years with chronic liver disease if you receive the proper medical treatment and halt behaviors that may worsen your condition. Anyone with alcohol-induced liver disease will improve their health and life expectancy if they stop drinking. Patients who do not stop drinking are likely to suffer a variety of life-threatening health problems caused by alcohol-related liver damage. Taking control of the disease before it takes hold of you is the key to your recovery.