Case 03 - Liver, Biliary and Pancreatic disease Flashcards
How many ml or g of pure alcohol are contained in one unit?
10ml or 8g
Formula to calculate units of alcohol in any given alcoholic drink
Units = (strength (ABV) x volume (ml)) / 1000
ABV = alcohol by volume
Amount of time it takes an average adult to process one unit of alcohol (so that there is none left in the bloodstream)
1h
Website to recommend for patients thinking of cutting down their alcohol intake
drinkaware.co.uk
A person who regularly drinks 14 units/week should…
…spread their drinking evenly over 3 or more days
Top tips for (1) cutting down alcohol consumption and (2) keeping track of units consumed
(1) Having several drink-free days each week
(2) Using a a unit measure cup
Categories for causes of liver disease
- Infective causes
- Lifestyle causes
- Drug causes
- Extra-hepatic (obstructive) causes
- Autoimmune causes
- Hereditary causes
Infective causes of liver disease
- Hepatitis viruses (A-E)
- Epstein Barr virus (EBV)
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- Less commonly: varicella-zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV)
Lifestyle causes of liver disease
- Alcohol excess
- Diabetes mellitus
- Obesity
Drug causes of liver disease
- PCM overdose
- Antibiotics such as flucloxacillin, rifampicin, erythromycin and augmentin (amoxicillin-clavulanate)
- Methotrexate
- Anti-epileptics
Extra-hepatic (obstructive) causes of liver disease
- Gallstones
- Carcinoma of the head of the pancreas
Autoimmune causes of liver disease
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
- Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)
- Autoimmune hepatitis
Hereditary causes of liver disease
- Hereditary haemochromatosis
- Wilson’s disease
- Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
