It has been reported that some patients have been misdiagnosed with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Hepatitis, when in fact the correct diagnosis in their specific case was Alcohol-related Liver Disease.
Alcoholic liver disease is damage to the liver caused by excessive drinking of alcohol. Symptoms include feeling sick, weight loss, loss of appetite, yellowing of the eyes and skin, swelling in the ankles and stomach, confusion, drowsiness, vomiting blood and passing blood in faeces. The first stage is alcoholic fatty liver disease which usually causes no symptoms. The second stage is alcoholic hepatitis once enough damage has occurred and the last stage is cirrhotic liver. Patient’s with alcohol related cirrhosis which do not stop drinking have a less than 50% chance of living for five more years. Alcoholic liver disease can be misdiagnosed for non-alcoholic steatosis hepatitis and fatty cirrhosis.