Alcohol Abuse Related Medical Problems and Treatment - Focus on Alcoholic Liver Disease -

Alcohol abuse is related to diverse medical problems including neuropsychiatric problems, malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases and liver diseases. The liver is the organ most severely affected by alcoholism. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality world wide. The spectrum of ALD is not uniform including steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis with increasing severity. Recent research has elucidated the mechanisms of alcohol-induced liver injury, offers the prospect of advances in the management of alcoholic liver disease. Interactions between acetaldehyde, reactive oxygen species, inflammatory mediators and genetic factors appear to play important roles in the development of ALD. The mainstay of therapy for ALD is cessation of drinking. Nutritional support has been shown to play a positive role in ALD. In this article, the most recent data on the efficacy of treatment of ALD including corticosteroid, anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidant were reviewed