Drug Therapy in Alcoholic Liver Disease

Drug therapy in patients with alcoholic liver disease may bedirected towards preventing the disease progessing, treatingcomplications such as ascites and hepatic encephalopathy, andtreating associated clinical problems such as the alcohol-withdrawalsyndrome. No drugs, with the possible exception of cortiscosteroids,modify the disease process significantly. Treatment of asciteshas improved in recent years with the use of aldosterone antagonistssuch as spironolactone, and lactulose has proved to be a usefuldrug in the management of hepatic encephalopathy. Sedativesand other drugs that depress central nervous system fuctionmust be used with great caution, particularly in patients whohave decompensated liver disease or who continue to drink heavily.The possibility of toxic side-effects must be considered beforeany drug is prescribed for a patient with alcoholic liver disease.