title: Alcohol liver disease: A review of current therapeutic approaches to achieve long-term abstinence.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: María Luisa Gutiérrez García, Sara Blasco-Algora, Conrado M Fernández-Rodríguez, Service of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario Fundación, Alcorcón, Av Budapest-1, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María Luisa Gutiérrez
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: María Luisa Gutiérrez García, Sara Blasco-Algora, Conrado M Fernández-Rodríguez, Service of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario Fundación, Alcorcón, Av Budapest-1, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blasco-Algora
authors.affiliation: María Luisa Gutiérrez García, Sara Blasco-Algora, Conrado M Fernández-Rodríguez, Service of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario Fundación, Alcorcón, Av Budapest-1, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Conrado M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D064829:Alcohol Abstinence; D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012008:Recurrence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents
keywords: Alcohol abstinence; Alcohol dependence; Alcohol use disorders; Alcohol withdrawal syndrome; Alcoholic liver disease