Alcohol and health Flashcards
Examples of one unit are
1 unit:
- half pint of a regular beer, lager or cider
- a small glass of wine
- a small glass of sherry
- a single measure of spirits
how to work out units based on % of alcohol?
% of unit in one litre = number of units in one litre
Is Alcohol withdrawal life threatening?
Yes - it leads to cardiac arrhythmias
Do the patient always need to completely stop drinking?
It would be good, but any reduction (e.g. 10% reduction in alco intake) will bring significant benefits
Bad effects of long term alcohol consumption
It is related to ‘large amount consumption’
Psychological aspects of alco consumption
- cravings
- irritability
- anti-sociality
- depression
- anxiety
- panic
- psychosis
- hallucinations
- delusions
- sleep disorder
How alcohol can affect sleep?
It lowers quality of sleep
*does not help with sleep
Pathway of alcohol-related liver disease
steatosis (fat accumulation in the liver) -> inflammation -> collagen deposition -> fibrosis -> cirrhosis -> hepatocellular carcinoma
What is typical characteristic feature of cirrhosis
Nodule formation
Acute alcoholic hepatitis
Clinical presentaiton
Acute alcoholic hepatitis
- rapid progression of jaundice
- fever
- abdominal pain
- leucocytosis
Histology of acute alcoholic hepatitis
- neutrophil infiltration
- marked fatty change
- Mallory’s hyaline
Consequences of liver cirrhosis
- portal hypertension
- poor liver function
- liver cancer
What (in re to alcohol disease) causes ascites?
Ascites may be a consequence of an increased portal hypertension and low albumin
Treatment of ascites
Ascites - transudate
- fluid restriction
- salt restriction
- diuretics
- paracentesis
- TIPS
What’s transudate ?
Fluid produced by an organ that has failed (e.g. HF, ascites)