He alcohol consumption It is something completely normalized in Spanish society, despite the multiple warnings from the scientific community about , whatever the amount.
Among the prevention guidelines for almost any pathology is not to drink alcohol.
But if it is always important for doctors to follow this recommendation, when it comes to try to prevent liver disease caused by it becomes fundamental.
And the reality is that we are talking about a pathology that really exists, which is asymptomatic in its early stages and has no treatment specific.
What is alcoholic liver disease?
He Dr. Joaquin Cabezasan expert from the (SEPD) and specialist in explains that:
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“The Alcohol-induced liver disease is one of the most prevalent pathologies of the liver. and it usually occurs when the patient has a high and continuous consumption”.
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How much is that? Specialists estimate the danger of consuming more than 20 grams of ethanol a day in women and 40 in men.
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AND the limit could still be lower in situations where there are other factors such as obesity, diabetes or other underlying liver disease”.
A disease that has no symptoms
One of the problems when it comes to identifying this disease is, in addition to the absence of symptoms, the lack of knowledge we have about whether there is a limit beyond which alcohol consumption becomes harmful.
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“People have difficulty quantifying the amount of alcohol they actually ingest, which is the first difficulty for its diagnosis and treatment, since specialists in we do not usually have precise biomarkers to identify risky consumption”.
In addition, Dr. Cabezas also warns of the stigma that surrounds this disease.
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“At the moment we must avoid terms that can be derogatory as “alcoholics”, but to talk about people with alcohol use disorder. And there is no longer an abusive or excessive consumption of alcohol, but rather a risk one”,
For this reason, the expert calls for raising awareness among the population about alcohol and the consequences beyond liver disease (such as, for example, ). And he clearly states:
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“There is no healthy or safe consumption of alcohol and awareness is the best tool to prevent”.
What diseases are included
There are three major pictures of liver disease caused by alcohol that, from least to greatest, severity are:
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alcoholic fatty liver
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alcoholic hepatitis
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Ethyl cirrhosis.
And to the factors and amount of consumption, which we have already said, it is important to add the time of consumption.
Excessive alcohol consumption for at least 5 years is considered a cause for developing severe liver disease.
And it’s also good to know that not all people who drink too much alcohol develop serious liver disease.
There is an individual component not identified so far that causes some people to develop cirrhosis and others only steatosis with the same alcohol intake.
Symptoms of alcohol liver disease
Due to the difficulty of diagnosing alcoholic liver disease in its early stages, in Spain there is no record of the number of patients with this pathology.
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“Some recent studies indicate that the incidence of alcohol-related cirrhosis in Spain is 4.4 women and 14.6 men per hundred thousand inhabitants. And in two out of three people with cirrhosis, alcohol is the cause, ”she asserts.
In addition to this, there are other data that can show the number of patients with this pathology, such as a higher proportion of admissions for diseases related to it (such as decompensated cirrhosis) or waiting lists for transplants.
As we have already seen, alcoholic liver disease does not cause specific signs until the pathology is very advanced and may become irreversible (as the “portal hypertension” or complications related to cirrhosis).
How can you recognize it in its early stages?
We are talking about an asymptomatic disease in its initial phases, unless some signs that can be associated with high alcohol consumption are identified, for example:
- parotid hypertrophy: the enlargement of the salivary glands located near the jaw.
- Fibrosis in the palm of the handwhich causes the progressive closure of this extremity.
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He increased thickness of the nosewhich also takes on a pink color (rhinophyma).
Risk factors for alcoholic liver disease
Regarding the risk factors linked to this disease, the expert identifies:
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The sex of the patient. Although this pathology is more prevalent among maleswomen are more susceptible to developing the disease because they have less ability to metabolize alcohol in the stomach.
- High alcohol consumption. In women it is greater than 20 grams of ethanol per day and in men, 40. To these figures the specialist adds what is known as “binge consumption or binge drinking” (an Anglo-Saxon term that describes when high amounts of alcohol are drunk in short periods of time). of time)”.
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have and overweight
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Suffer diabetes.
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Genetic factors.
- Other liver diseases: hematosis, viral infection by B or C, etc.
Diagnosis and treatment of alcoholic liver disease
The three bases to address this…