What are the symptoms of alcoholic liver disease? These signs need to be watched out for

If you drink alcohol for a long time, most people will suffer from alcoholic liver disease. The main symptoms of this disease are abdominal distension, fatigue, and discomfort in the liver area. If someone's condition is more serious, they may also experience anorexia and enlarged liver.

1. Mild cases may cause abdominal distension, fatigue, discomfort in the liver area, anorexia, jaundice, hepatomegaly and tenderness, dull complexion, ascites, edema, spider nevi, fever, leukocytosis (mainly neutrophilia) similar to bacterial infection, and a few may have symptoms such as splenomegaly, and serum bilirubin <100μmol/L; moderate to severe cases, in addition to the above symptoms, may also have persistent low fever, diarrhea, numbness of the limbs, hand tremors, sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction in men, etc. Liver function tests show moderate elevation of AST and ALT, and AST/ALT ratio close to 3.

2. It is not difficult to diagnose alcoholic liver disease based on its symptoms, drinking history and various examinations. However, in clinical practice, there are often patients with viral liver disease and a long history of alcoholism, so care should be taken not to misdiagnose them. Since the symptoms of alcoholic liver disease are not obvious in the early stages, many people only discover it through physical examinations. Therefore, it is also very important for people with a long history of alcoholism to develop the habit of regular physical examinations to detect alcoholic liver disease. Patients with alcoholic liver disease should completely abstain from alcohol, eat a reasonable diet, adjust their mood, combine work and rest, and take alcohol-detoxifying and liver-protecting preparations such as selenium malt and schisandra tablets, which have no side effects on the body. Patients with alcoholic liver disease should achieve early detection and early treatment.

3. Although alcoholic liver disease is very harmful, it is difficult to prevent and detect it early based on symptoms, because there are generally no specific symptoms and signs in the early stages of alcoholic liver disease. Only as the disease progresses do some signs of digestive system and liver disease appear. Since most alcohol is broken down and converted in the liver, long-term alcoholism affects liver fat metabolism, which can cause fatty liver, followed by alcoholic hepatitis, liver cell degeneration, necrosis, and fibrous tissue proliferation, leading to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Alcoholic liver disease is pathologically manifested in three stages: alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis, and the three often overlap.