Alcoholic liver disease is difficult to treat. Screening of alcohol and alcohol abuse should be routine and conducted annually, with special emphasis on those who have signs of liver disease.
Patients with identified signs of liver disease should be biopsy of the liver to clarify the diagnosis of the disease, the prognosis and treatment. Therapy itself depends on the type of alcoholic liver damage: alcoholic steatosis, hepatitis, or cirrhosis.
Alcoholic steatosis disappears with abstinence, but, in some cases, requires the appointment of lipotropic drugs. With more severe liver damage, pentoxifylline can be used and, as was recently shown, anti-TNF antibodies to neutralize cytokines. Antioxidant therapy requires validation in large clinical trials.
Medicus. En.