Signs & Symptoms of Alcoholic Liver Disease

Alcoholic liver disease has three basic categories--fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Fatty liver often develops after years of drinking, though it typically develops before alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Fatty liver is usually quite treatable, and will, on most occasions, go away when the consumption of alcohol is stopped. Moderation is key in preventing the return of fatty liver. Alcoholic hepatitis occurs when a large volume of alcohol is consumed over a fairly long period of time. It can sometimes be reversed, but it is not as easy to treat as fatty liver. Cirrhosis develops after years of alcoholism, and treatment is usually not beneficial in reversing or slowing end-stage liver failure.

If you have symptoms such as jaundice, fever, abdominal pain, mental confusion, or nausea, and you drink alcohol regularly, you should see your doctor. These symptoms could be signs of liver disease.

Risk Factors

• Alcoholic liver disease can be caused by several things. Predilection to alcohol abuse, as well as social factors such as the availability of alcohol, social acceptability of alcohol use within specific cultures and peer groups, and gender are the most common areas studied by researchers.

Fatty Liver

• Patients diagnosed with fatty liver rarely present symptoms that indicate liver disease. Sometimes the liver will appear smooth and slightly enlarged, but fatty liver is generally hard to diagnose. Fatty liver is associated not only with alcohol use, but also with obesity, insulin resistance and malnutrition.

Alcoholic Hepatitis

• Alcoholic hepatitis patients often present symptoms including nausea, vomiting, weight loss and abdominal pain. Physical symptoms include jaundice, ascites, a buildup of fluid in the abdomen, and encephalopathy, a disorder that causes general brain dysfunction. Patients with more severe cases of alcoholic hepatitis sometimes have acute viral hepatitis and Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that prevents the body from getting rid of unnecessary copper.

Cirrhosis

• Alcohol-induced cirrhosis often follows cases of fatty liver and alcoholic hepatitis in a patient's history. Symptoms of alcoholic cirrhosis are hard to differentiate from general cirrhosis. Some symptoms of general cirrhosis include jaundice, pruritus, a sensation that makes sufferers want to scratch, hypertension, and variceal bleeding, a condition that makes dilating blood vessels bleed, and sometimes burst.

Diagnosis

• Fatty liver is usually diagnosed in patients who are being treated for abnormal liver function. It is generally detected through very specific laboratory tests showing that levels of the liver enzyme aminotransferase are nearly twice the normal levels found in healthy adults. Alcoholic hepatitis is commonly found through similar laboratory tests, with test results showing higher aminotransferase levels than with fatty liver. Sometimes these tests show abnormalities such as anemia. Alcoholic cirrhosis generally appears in patients who have long histories of alcohol abuse and symptoms of end-stage liver failure. Liver biopsy is done on occasion if the diagnosis is questionable.