As patients come into clinic and receive appropriate follow-up, we can hopefully find ways to mitigate the increase in alcoholic hepatitis, said Nancy Reau, MD, section chief of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center.
While it's hard to determine whether the increase in alcohol use disorder and alcoholic hepatitis (AH) will be reduced, Nancy Reau, MD, section chief of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center, hopes interventions can prevent the trend from continuing upward.
Transcript
Are there any interventions to prevent a continued upward trend of AH?
When we're talking about alcohol use disorder, it's really challenging to limit something that's legal, right? No one wants to look at prohibition, no one is going to have Big Brother or some state entity come in and say “you cannot drink anymore.” So, I don't know that the increase in alcohol use disorder and [AH] is going to go down, but I do hope that it probably won't go up.
Part of that is around awareness. There are some campaigns around healthy drinking. It's hard to not see something come through Medscape or some of our patient forums where it does talk about healthy lifestyle and the importance of limiting alcohol use to something that the CDC would consider safe. There are conditions that lead to alcohol-related use disorder, so depression feeds into this, loneliness, isolation. With the pandemic being a little more controlled, I think people are now more able to feel connected to their community, and when you're connected to your community, your friends might notice that you're doing something that's unhealthy and encourage you to go and link to your physician.
A lot of our substance abuse services also got disrupted during the pandemic, and those are now being reestablished. Now, for instance, I saw a patient today who had not returned to her addiction management and had relapsed problematic alcohol [use] and knew she could go back but just still hadn't established with that service. I encouraged her, “Please call, pinky promise me. We want to get a hold of this. We don't want you to get sick. Right now, you're feeling relatively well, but it's really important to manage the alcohol use so that you don't end up ill.”
I think that as patients come into clinic, as they have appropriate follow-up arranged after they're hospitalized, we're going to hopefully find ways to mitigate the increase in [AH] and these hospitalizations.
Tailored Dosing for MM Matters More Than Drug Count: Ajai Chari, MD
April 25th 2025When it comes to treating multiple myeloma (MM), Ajai Chari, MD, argued that more is not always better. More intense treatment regimens, or those with more drugs, don't necessarily guarantee better outcomes.
Read More
Inside the Center's MDD Value Model and Its Use of Dynamic Pricing
May 13th 2025Larragem Raines, MS, of the Center for Innovation & Value Research, discusses the organization's major depressive disorder (MDD) open-source value model, dynamic pricing, and the future role of artificial intelligence in care.
Listen
Empowering Teams Begins With Human Connection: Missy Hopson, PhD
April 16th 2025Missy Hopson, PhD, Ochsner Health, discussed in detail the challenges of strengthening the patient-centered workforce, the power of community reputation for encouraging health care careers, and the influence of empowered workforces on patient outcomes.
Read More
What the Updated Telephone Consumer Protection Act Rules Mean for Health Care Messaging
April 4th 2025As new Federal Communications Commission rules take effect April 11, 2025, mPulse CEO Bob Farrell explains how health organizations can stay compliant while building patient trust through transparency and personalized engagement.
Read More