Alcoholic liver disease: A review

Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) is the most advanced form of liver disease that’s related to drinking alcohol. The disease is part of a progression. Alcoholic liver disease comprises a clinical-histologic spectrum including fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis with its complications. The diagnosis of ALD can generally be made based on clinical and laboratory features alone in patients with a history of significant alcohol consumption after other etiologies for chronic liver disease have been ruled out. Therapies for treatment of ALD aim at achieving complete alcohol abstinence with use of pharmacological therapy and behavioral therapy with motivational interviewing. Many pharmacological agents have been used for treatment of ALD including disulfiram, acamprosate, gabapentin, naltrexone, topiramate, sertraline, & baclofen. Life style changes help to delay or stop progression of the disease, reduce the severity of symptoms and help to prevent the complications.