Essay Sample on Alcohol Liver Disease: The Difficulty of Obtaining a Liver Transplant

Every year many people succumb to the complications arising from the complications caused by Alcohol Liver Disease (ALD). ALD is a wide variety of damage caused on the liver due to high consumption of alcohol for long periods. The only cure for this condition in its extreme condition is a liver transplant (Marroni et al., 2018). However, several ALD patients do not get on the lists of getting these donated organs. The reason for this is that several transplant hospitals often require the patients that require liver transplants to demonstrate six months of sobriety before they can register and wait for the donors. This approach has certain benefits since, in addition to providing an opportunity to the patients to restore the functions of their liver naturally; it also proves that the patient is serious about staying sober after the transplants (Im, Cameron, & Lucey, 2019). This approach has been used for many years for patients with ALD. Many of these patients however die before they accomplish the six-month sobriety period. For this reason, researchers have significantly questioned this approach

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Over time, patients who have alcoholic hepatitis have been considerably stigmatized because of their activities. They have been told that they do not deserve the treatment that could save their lives. Alcohol liver disease is also known as alcohol hepatitis and is a liver inflammation caused by drinking high amounts of alcohol (Im, Cameron, & Lucey, 2019). It is a chronic illness where 50% of the patients that have severe forms of the disease die in about a month without treatment. Often prescription drugs such as steroids and avoiding drinking alcohol lead to resolving the condition. Advanced cases often require a liver transplant. However, this issue is controversial since, after transplant, the patients usually get back to alcoholism. Alcohol relapsing often causes many problems with new livers, leading to the recurrence of hepatitis. It is often associated with non-compliance in taking necessary medication required for complete recovery.

However, several studies have been done, which illustrate that there were positive outcomes associated with the patients that had alcoholic hepatitis and had received liver transplants without having to wait for the six-month sobriety period (Solga et al., 2019). In light of these results, studies have been conducted to determine whether the time selected affected the recovery period and whether it had a role to play with their disease. The people chosen for the study had a strong support network, and they understood the role of alcohol in their condition. The first patients that were allocated livers were followed up for about 530 days after the transplant. Individually each patient had their psychiatric care determined (Godfrey, Stribling & Rana, 2019). The relapse rate of patients that had transplants in the absence of sobriety was similar to the rate of those that had taken their required sobriety time, which was 28%. However, 98% of the patients were sober towards the end of the period. The National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse illustrates that in the general public, the people that naturally relapse often do so within four years after they start their treatment (Godfrey, Stribling & Rana, 2019). Similarly, the rates of patient survival and the functioning of the transplants were the same in the two groups. This was similar to what the researchers thought to be high compared to other illnesses that require a liver transplant.

Through this approach, it is clear that there is a need to follow the approach used by the researchers. According to the information collected above, it is apparent that the sobriety time is not essential in determining relapse rates and future sobriety. It is vital to conduct proper scientific research that will assist in finding answers on the people to transplant in a non-stigmatized and non-judgmental manner (Solga et al., 2019). This information should include the long-term outcomes of the patients who have been able to receive transplanted livers. These psychiatric interventions can assist in reducing the rates of relapse as well as underlying the different mechanisms of alcohol hepatitis. Several things can affect the risk one has to abuse alcohol. Often, these factors are not controllable by an individual, as people do not make the decisions to develop a drinking problem. People with a drinking problem can stop drinking and recover well, which means that they should have the same opportunity to access life-saving liver transplants (Solga et al., 2019).

There is a great need for more research to determine whether it is appropriate to institute the six-month wait. Additionally, ALD should be studied to determine why some people can drink more alcohol and not get the disease while others get the disease. Further, there is a need to find answers to the ethical questions surrounding liver transplant among patients with ALD (Godfrey, Stribling & Rana, 2019). Liver transplant has mostly been viewed as a reward for people that have maintained sobriety for six months. This should be changed, and the decisions made should be based on what the patients can do in the future with the second chance they have received.

Conclusion

Every year many people succumb to the complications that arise due to the difficulties caused by Alcohol Liver Disease (ALD). This is a wide variety of damage caused on the liver due to high consumption of alcohol for long periods. The only cure for this condition is a liver transplant. However, several ALD patients do not get on the lists of getting these donated organs. The reason for this is that several transplant hospitals often require the patients that require new livers to demonstrate six months of sobriety before they can register and wait for the donors. However, several studies have been done, and this illustrated that there were positive outcomes that were associated with the patients that had alcoholic hepatitis and received liver transplants without having to wait for the six months sobriety period. In light of this research, it is essential not to deny the patients transplants due to the time they have taken soberly.

References

Godfrey, E. L., Stribling, R., & Rana, A. (2019). Liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease: An update. Clinics in liver disease, 23(1), 127-139.Retrieved from https://www.liver.theclinics.com/article/S1089-3261 (18)30083-7/abstract

Im, G. Y., Cameron, A. M., & Lucey, M. R. (2019). Liver transplantation for alcoholic hepatitis. Journal of Hepatology, 70(2), 328 334.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2018.11.007

Marroni, C. A., Fleck Jr, A. M., Fernandes, S. A., Galant, L. H., Mucenic, M., de Mattos Meine, M. H., ... & de Mello Brandão, A. B. (2018). Liver transplantation and alcoholic liver disease: History, controversies, and considerations. World journal of gastroenterology, 24(26), 2785. DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i26.2785

Solga, S. F., Goldberg, D. S., Spacek, L. A., & Forde, K. A. (2019). Early liver transplantation for alcoholic hepatitis. Gastroenterology, 156(1), 284-285. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2018.06.096