Alcoholic Liver Disease

Alcoholic Liver Disease is a topic covered in the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics.

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Washington Manual

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General Principles

  • Alcohol use disorder is a significant medical and socioeconomic problem.
  • Patients may underestimate or minimize their reported alcohol abuse.
  • According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 15.1 million US adults age 18 and older (6.2% of this age group) had alcohol use disorder.
  • The spectrum of alcoholic liver disease includes fatty liver, alcoholic steatohepatitis, severe alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Fatty liver is the most common and occurs in up to 90% of alcoholics.
  • Of all excessive alcohol users, between 10% and 20% will develop cirrhosis and 35% will develop alcoholic hepatitis. More than half of the latter will progress to cirrhosis.
  • Alcoholic cirrhosis is a common cause of ESLD and HCC.

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