Causes, symptoms, treatment of alcoholic hepatitis. How to recognize the disease?

Alcoholic toxic hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver caused by prolonged intake of alcoholic beverages. And, if you regularly use large doses of alcohol, this will necessarily lead to the onset of this disease. For example, if every day for 5 years a person drinks about 100 g of alcoholic beverages( pure alcohol), alcoholic hepatitis will be provided to him. Moreover, taking alcohol during 5-7 years threatens the development of chronic alcoholic hepatitis.

A safe alcoholic dose of alcohol for the body per day is:

• for men - 40 g;
• for women - 20 g( in 25 ml of vodka contains 10 g of alcohol).

Who is sick with alcoholic hepatitis more often?

Women are more likely to develop the disease than men. And all this is due to the fact that in their body there are less alcohol-neutralizing enzymes. Therefore, even a very small excess of the norm per day, can cause liver damage in the weaker sex. In addition, there is an increased risk of hepatitis in people:

instagram viewer
• taking drugs harmful to the liver;
• patients with viral hepatitis B, C, D;
• with a small body weight;
• with excess weight.

The disease can develop for several years, without manifesting itself in any way in the early years. Signs of alcoholic hepatitis are similar to those that occur with other types of hepatitis.

Symptoms of the disease

In case of illness the following symptoms appear:

• pain, discomfort and feeling of heaviness in the right hypochondrium;
• rapid fatigue and weakness;
• a sharp weight loss;
• nausea and vomiting;
• skin itch
• yellowing of the skin, as well as sclera of the eyes and mucous membranes of the mouth;
• burp with a bitter taste;
• diarrhea after ingestion of fatty foods, alcohol;
• darkening of urine and fecal discoloration;
• slight increase in body temperature to 37 ° C.

When these symptoms appear, it is better to seek medical help right away without delay, in order to determine the disease in time and to prescribe the correct treatment. Diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis is carried out on the basis of a biochemical blood test, which indicates an increased content of liver enzymes, that is, transaminases and bilirubin pigment. To confirm the diagnosis, a liver biopsy should be done( extraction of a microscopic fragment with further examination under a microscope).Biopsy makes it possible to identify inflammatory foci and death of liver cells.

Acute alcoholic hepatitis

Acute alcoholic hepatitis develops mainly in men who abuse alcohol for at least 5 years. If you consume large amounts of alcohol, acute illness can develop quite quickly. An important role is played by insufficient and irrational nutrition, as well as genetic predisposition.

As a rule, this hepatitis is acute after the previous binge: there are pains in the liver, nausea, vomiting, jaundice. In some cases, fever, darkening of urine and fading of feces increase.

In itself, an ailment is not contagious to others if the disease has occurred due to alcohol intoxication and without the presence of an agent. Viral hepatitis of other forms of origin can be contagious.

Diagnosis of the disease

Diagnostic examination of liver or alcoholic hepatitis is a certain complexity. And this is due to the fact that it is not always possible to obtain information about the patient in full. Therefore, the doctor must clearly know what is included in the concepts of "alcohol abuse" and "dependence."The main criteria for alcohol dependence are:

• consumption of alcoholic beverages in excessive quantities and a constant craving for their use;
• spending a lot of time for the purchase of alcohol, its use;
• alcohol intake in dangerous life situations, as well as when it violates a patient's obligations to society;
• use simultaneously with the cessation or reduction of social activity and professional activity of the patient;
• occurrence of signs of abstinence;
• reception despite even the aggravation of psychological, physical problems;
• increase in the volume of alcohol used to achieve the desired effect;
• alcohol intake to reduce all symptoms of withdrawal.

Alcohol dependence can be diagnosed based on at least three of the above characteristics. Alcohol abuse is detected if the following signs are revealed:

• alcohol intake, despite the psychological, social and professional problems of the patient;
• re-ingestion of alcohol in dangerous life situations.

How to treat alcoholic hepatitis solves specialist doctor, based on the data of diagnostic studies.

Treatment of alcoholic hepatitis

The question of whether a disease can be cured depends on many factors. Treatment of alcoholic hepatitis of any form provides for complete cessation of alcohol use. But, it should be taken into account that in reality, no more than a third of patients completely refuse from drinking alcohol after confirming the diagnosis. Approximately the same number of patients significantly reduce the amount of alcohol consumed, at the same time as the rest of patients, generally ignore all the recommendations of the doctor. The last category includes patients with alcoholism, who require joint medical care for the narcologist and hepatologist.

The complex treatment of alcoholic hepatitis includes:

• elimination of the etiologic factor;
• high-energy diet high in protein;
• medication medication;
• treatment is prompt.

The diet is prescribed by a doctor and is determined strictly individually, depending on the stage of the disease and the general condition of the patient. The food of the patient should be high-calorie with high protein content.

Impossibility to convince the patient of the need for abstinence due to alcohol dependence and the presence of contraindications to the appointment of neuroleptics due to hepatic insufficiency, cause an unfavorable prognosis in the treatment of alcoholic toxic hepatitis.

In case the patient continues to consume alcoholic beverages and eat poorly, alcoholic hepatitis can recur and the symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis will reappear. Sometimes such relapses result in death, but most often the symptoms disappear within a few weeks or months after treatment. If you do not heal the liver and do not follow all the doctor's recommendations, alcoholic hepatitis will go through all stages and end with death.