Liver metabolism . Chronic alcohol administration has been found to increase the rate of oxygen metabolism by the liver. Environmental factors . Treatment Alcoholic hepatitis . Mortality from alcoholic hepatitis during the early weeks of treatment is very high.
Abstinence is the cornerstone of therapy for patients with prolonged alcoholic hepatitis.
If the patient with alcoholic hepatitis lives to leave the hospital, abstinence is essential for long-term survival. Treatment for cirrhosis is directed at symptoms and complications, with abstinence a requirement. For terminally ill patients, liver transplantation is the only effective treatment. This therapy has not yet been studied in humans. M.D. A bstinence from alcohol is the single most important component of treatmen t for alcoholic liver disease.