Alcoholic hepatitis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the tissues of the liver and has a diffuse nature. The disease, as a rule, is chronic and develops as a result of negative effects on the liver of alcohol, as well as its decomposition products. In most cases, alcoholic hepatitis develops with regular drinking for 5-7 years.
Alcohol, getting into the body, is concentrated in the liver, decomposing to acetaldehyde - a substance that has a toxic effect on tissues. Thus, when taking alcohol in the body, a series of successive chemical reactions occur that lead to hypoxia of the liver cells - hepatocytes. With regular drinking, cell necrosis occurs. The severity of the course of the disease depends on the quality of alcohol, the duration of use and the doses taken.
Symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis are similar to those of other types of hepatitis. Among them:
- The appearance of discomfort, pain, a feeling of heaviness in the right side, just below the ribs;
- Nausea, belching of a bitter taste, the occurrence of diarrhea after taking fatty foods or alcohol;
- Signs of jaundice - the skin and sclera of the eyes acquire a characteristic yellow hue;
- Discoloration of urine and feces;
- Sensation of weakness, temperature within 37 degrees, which lasts a long time.
In the development of alcoholic hepatitis, an important role can also be played by diseases of other organs of the gastrointestinal tract, which develop when alcohol is abused, for example, pancreatitis or cholecystitis.
Alcoholic hepatitis can occur in one of two forms. With a persistent form, the inflammatory process is reversible, provided that alcohol is rejected and timely treatment is given. If the patient does not change his lifestyle, then the disease becomes a progressive form. In this case, small foci of necrotic lesions appear on the liver. This condition is a precursor of cirrhosis, and this complication occurs in about a fifth of cases.
To diagnose alcoholic hepatitis, they resort to a biochemical blood test. If there is a disease, an increase in the level of special liver enzymes, as well as bilirubin, will be noted in the blood. To confirm the diagnosis, it is sometimes necessary to resort to a liver biopsy when a microscopic fragment of the liver tissue is removed, which is then examined under a microscope.
Treatment of alcoholic hepatitis consists, first of all, in the complete exclusion of alcohol consumption. It should be noted that the compensatory capabilities of the liver are so strong that sometimes only refusing alcohol can lead to recovery.
If the patient continues to drink alcoholic beverages during treatment, then the effectiveness of therapy is likely to be reduced to zero. So, in the presence of such a liver lesion, it is very important to completely abandon alcohol, since even minimal doses will extremely negatively affect the well-being of the patient.
It is equally important during the treatment to adhere to a sparing diet that excludes fried, spicy foods and excess fat. At the same time, you need to sit at the table at least five times a day and be sure to observe the diet.
In the treatment of alcoholic hepatitis, drugs from the group of hepatoprotectors are used, which help restore damaged liver cells. There are a lot of such drugs, the most commonly used are Heptral and Essliver forte.
In patients with alcoholic hepatitis, as a rule, the supply of vitamins is depleted, so they are prescribed vitamin complexes, which should include folic acid.
In the case of severe liver damage and the development of liver failure, there are no other methods to save the patient, except for liver transplantation.
The only effective preventive measure against the development of alcoholic hepatitis is the exclusion of alcohol.