Open AccessAlcohol liver disease: A review of current therapeutic approaches to achieve long-term abstinence
Author(s) -
María Luisa Gutiérrez García,
Sara Blasco-Algora,
Conrado FernándezRodríguez
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.v21.i28.8516
Subject(s) - abstinence , medicine , alcoholic liver disease , alcohol and health , alcohol use disorder , alcohol , liver disease , detoxification (alternative medicine) , alcohol abuse , intervention (counseling) , population , psychiatry , disease , alcohol dependence , intensive care medicine , alcohol consumption , environmental health , cirrhosis , alternative medicine , pathology , biochemistry , chemistry
Harmful alcohol drinking may lead to significant damage on any organ or system of the body. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the most prevalent cause of advanced liver disease in Europe. In ALD, only alcohol abstinence was associated with a better long-term survival. Therefore, current effective therapeutic strategy should be oriented towards achieving alcohol abstinence or a significant reduction in alcohol consumption. Screening all primary care patients to detect those cases with alcohol abuse has been proposed as population-wide preventive intervention in primary care. It has been suggested that in patients with mild alcohol use disorder the best approach is brief intervention in the primary care setting with the ultimate goal being abstinence, whereas patients with moderate-to-severe alcohol use disorder must be referred to specialized care where detoxification and medical treatment of alcohol dependence must be undertaken.