Alcohol use disorder therapy could improve chronic liver disease outcomes
Fuster D, Samet JH. N Engl J Med. 2018;doi:10.1056/NEJMra1715733.
September 26, 2018
Details from a recently published review discussed expanded use of alcohol use disorder medications and treatments in everyday clinical practice for patients with advanced liver disease.
In HCV, alcohol use increases infection exposure and persistence, causes more extensive liver damage than the infection alone, leads to faster progression of liver fibrosis and results in higher rates of mortality. These effects are common in HBV as well, although alcohol use in patients with HBV also demonstrated an increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Along with increased fibrosis progression and an increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, alcohol use in patients with NAFLD leads to a greater prevalence of steatosis and abnormal liver tests. In hereditary hemochromatosis, alcohol use increases fibrosis progression as well as iron overload.
“Assessment of alcohol use is appropriate for any person with liver disease, given the elevated risks of alcohol-related hepatotoxicity,” Fuster and Samet wrote. “In fact, there is no known safe threshold of alcohol consumption for patients with chronic liver disease, especially those with HCV infection, obesity, or the metabolic syndrome.”
Heavy drinkers and teetotalers alike may have heightened dementia risk
Lisa Rapaport(Reuters Health) - Middle-aged adults who avoid alcohol altogether, and those who consume the equivalent of seven glasses of wine or more a week are both more likely than light drinkers to develop dementia in their later years, a long-term study suggests.
Abstinence is also associated with a higher likelihood of having heart disease or diabetes, which explains part of the increased dementia risk for teetotalers, the study found. Abstinence may also be tied to dementia in people who stopped drinking due to misuse or addiction, Sabia said by email...
“Findings on abstainers should not motivate people who do not drink to start drinking alcohol due to the adverse effects of alcohol on mortality, cirrhosis of the liver and cancer,” Sabia noted. “In addition, given the detrimental effect of alcohol for several health outcomes, people who drink in an excessive manner should be encouraged to reduce their alcohol consumption.”
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Alcohol abuse kills 3 million a year, most of them men: WHO Of all deaths attributable to alcohol, 28% were due to injuries, such as those from traffic crashes, self-harm and interpersonal violence; 21% due to digestive disorders; 19% due to cardiovascular diseases, and the remainder due to infectious diseases, cancers, mental disorders and other health conditions...
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