Alcoholic Liver disease- Can you recover from alcoholic liver disease?

Dr.Sharad Malhotra, 3 mins read

Alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD), more commonly known as alcohol disease due to its obvious relation to the heavy consumption of alcohol, is a disease in which a person’s liver begins to get damaged from years of continued drinking. The liver becomes inflamed and swollen after years of drinking and this causes scarring, called cirrhosis, which also happens to be the final stage of liver disease. Alcohol-related liver disease is a major health issue, a public health issue, and a social problem in some places, and everyone should know the basic facts surrounding it. Read on and learn how to detect liver damage from alcohol, and understand alcoholic liver treatment guidelines as per the three stages of alcoholic liver disease. In case you’ve generally stopped drinking, you can also learn how to look for signs your liver is healing from alcohol damage and how you can reverse liver damage from alcoholism.

A lot of people consume an excessive amount of alcohol, and out of all these heavy drinkers; over ten to fifteen percent will eventually go on to develop alcohol-related liver disease. If you’re thinking about what amounts will be alright, “heavy” drinking is classified as having more than seven alcoholic beverages per week for women and over fourteen units for men. (One unit is equivalent to 30 ml of whiskey, 120 ml of wine, or 330 ml of beer). Many people are unaware that liver disease is just one of many other devastating consequences of heavy alcohol consumption, but this is particularly concerning as liver failure can prove to be fatal. Preventing this condition is better than treating, it in every way, shape, and form.

Types of alcoholic liver disease and related symptoms

The symptoms of all diseases depend on the stage at which the disease has reached; the same is true for alcoholic liver disease, which has three stages and concomitant symptoms. 

The first stage of ARLD is called an alcoholic fatty liver disease because fat starts to deposit in the liver. This stage is fairly easy to cure and all liver damage can be reversed by doing one simple thing: stop drinking. If you want to know how long you’ll have to abstain from alcohol to repair liver damage in this stage- the answer is just two weeks if no chronicity exists in the background. 

The second stage is acute alcoholic hepatitis when heavy drinking and abusing alcohol for a while causes inflammation (swelling) of the liver. In this stage, the outcome of treatment for liver damage will depend almost entirely on the extent of liver damage. In a lot of cases, treatment has indeed reversed the damage of patients who sincerely stop drinking, while more critical cases of alcoholic hepatitis can eventually end in liver failure.

The third and most severe stage of ARLD is alcoholic cirrhosis when the liver has been fibrosed from a long time of alcohol abuse, and the damage cannot be reversed. Cirrhosis can then lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

Detecting alcoholic liver disease early can be critical and some people with ARLD won’t notice any symptoms until the disease is advanced while some will start showing signs or experiencing symptoms earlier. General symptoms of alcoholic liver disease are nausea, jaundice, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, increased thirst, unforeseen weight loss, swelling in the legs and abdomen, redness on hands and feet, darkening or lightening of the skin, dark bowel movements, fainting, unusual agitation, confusion, mood swings, bleeding gums, and enlarged breasts for men. These symptoms can show up in a more apparent way often after binge drinking.

Risk factors for alcohol-related liver disease

Individuals are at greater risk of alcoholic liver disease if they drink heavily, these quite often also have a family history of ARLD, binge drinking, and a diet that does not provide enough nutritional value. Binge drinking may also cause acute alcoholic hepatitis, which is potentially life-threatening and can even develop after as few as four consecutive drinks for women and five drinks for men.

Diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease

The liver can get damaged by diseases other than ARLD; a gastroenterologist will likely wish to examine the health of your liver to rule out the possibility of other diseases. You may have to get a liver function test, complete blood counts, abdominal ultrasound, abdominal CT scan, and even a liver biopsy if cancer is suspected. These blood tests will determine the levels of three liver enzymes, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Over eighty percent of ARLD patients will have alcohol-related liver disease if their AST level is twice as high as their ALT levels. Ultrasound will reveal altered liver echotexture. Endoscopy is also done to rule out swelling of veins in food pipe which can cause bleeding.

Treatment for alcohol-related liver disease

ARLD treatment will seek to achieve two things, the first is to help patients quit drinking which will prevent more liver damage and promote healing, while the other is to improve their liver health.

For those who have ARLD, treatment may be recommended through non-medical means first, for instance in the first stage of liver disease, you just need to stop drinking. This can be achieved by way of you committing to stop drinking clearly and with conviction, followed by alcoholic rehabilitation programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous, where other recovering people can help you stop drinking if you feel you won’t be able to stop by yourself. 

Medical treatment can begin with simple changes in food of good nutritional value, multivitamin tablets, particularly for getting in B-complex vitamins are mostly found to be low in people who drink regularly, and this deficiency can lead to malnutrition or anemia. Even vitamin A is found to be low in heavy drinkers

Subsequently, the use of medications to reduce jaundice, swelling of the liver, improve appetite, and drugs to help maintain abstinence are required

Few patients will require inpatient treatment if complications develop like advanced liver disease.

A multidisciplinary approach including a Gastroenterologist, Psychiatrist, and Dietician is required for optimal patient management.

A liver transplant may be used as a last resort if the liver is far too damaged by cirrhosis to function any longer.

Outlook

Alcoholic liver disease can shorten or claim your life but you can stop this if you stop drinking, and stick to it with sincerity. Patients have recovered from malnutrition by improving their diet and it’s never too late to change bad habits. 

You can get in touch with your doctor or with us if you think that you may have a drinking problem. Many programs have helped people quit alcohol and reclaim their lives.

Liver healthy, live healthy.

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