Alcohol-Related Liver Disease
ًWhat is Alcohol-Related Liver Disease?
Alcohol-Related Liver Disease is a very common but curable disease. Alcoholic liver disease occurs as a result of excessive alcohol consumption. The liver breaks down alcohol. If you drink more than it can process, it can cause serious damage. The effect of alcohol on the liver depends on how much and for how long you drink.
Most people who develop cirrhosis of the liver due to excessive alcohol consumption do not require a liver transplant. They just need to stop drinking. For patients with advanced liver disease, where long-term abstinence and drug treatment fail to restore health and liver disease progresses, we discuss liver transplantation. All patients in this facility must abstain from alcohol for a minimum of 6 months before they can be listed for liver transplantation, and must attend Alcoholics Anonymous and undergo random alcohol and toxin screening.
Alcohol-Related Liver Disease is characterized by three stages of liver damage. 1 fatty liver 2 alcoholic hepatitis 3 Alcoholic fibrosis/cirrhosis.
ًWhat is Alcohol-Related Liver Disease?
- Jaundice
- dark urine
- Itching
- Fatigue
- nausea
- Weakness
- vomiting of blood
- pain in the abdomen
- Clay-colored Bowel movements
- Loss of Appetite
- Belly pain
- Weight loss
- Pale Stool
- Easy Bruising and Bleeding
- Building up of fluids in the legs (edema) and in the Abdomen (Ascites)
How is Alcoholic liver disease diagnosed?
Generally, Alcoholic liver disease is first diagnosed through a routine blood test or checkup. For the confirmation of a diagnosis, some laboratory and imaging tests is usually done.
Following tests should be done for Alcoholic liver disease.
- Laboratory tests. Complete blood count (CBC), Liver function tests, Blood tests for other causes of liver disease, Prothrombin Time and International Normalised Ratio (PT/INR)
- Imaging tests. Abdominal CT scan, Ultrasound of the abdomen,
- Ultrasound elastography
- Liver biopsy