According to doctors, after the long Tet holiday, the number of people coming for examination and hospitalization due to liver disease related to alcohol and beer abuse tends to increase.
Recorded at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, on February 23, at one of the three clinics of the Outpatient Examination and Treatment Department, there were 27 visits, including 8 cases related to alcohol, double compared to normal days. At the Hepatitis Department, during the Lunar New Year, from February 14, there were 28 patients hospitalized, including 10 cases of alcohol-induced hepatitis.
BSCKII Doi Ngoc Anh, Department of Hepatitis, said that unlike previous years, this year there have been patients hospitalized from the 1st and 2nd days of Tet. On the 2nd day alone, there were 3 hospitalizations, about 2/3 of which were related to alcohol and beer. According to doctors, before Tet, many people attended year-end parties, used a lot of alcohol and beer, so it seriously affected the liver.
On February 23 alone, the number of patients in the Department of Hepatitis increased sharply, of which more than half of the hospitalizations were related to alcohol and beer. Notably, many patients only came to the hospital when their condition was severe and they were very tired. Two severe cases had to be put on a ventilator and treated in the Intensive Care Unit; both were hospitalized in a state of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, delirium, coma, nonsense speech, the most severe case was one case after being admitted for one day with convulsions.
According to BSCKII Doi Ngoc Anh, most severe cases have a history of cirrhosis due to alcohol from before. Drinking a lot of alcohol during Tet becomes a driving factor that prevents the liver from metabolizing in time, leading to severe damage and complications.
Doctors recommend that people with chronic liver disease need to stop drinking alcohol immediately. When signs such as fatigue, loss of appetite, jaundice, tremors in limbs... appear, they need to go to a medical facility for examination and testing to assess liver function, and should not wait until the disease is severe. People with a history of cirrhosis, hepatitis B, C should not be subjective to mild symptoms after drinking alcohol and should have periodic screening every 3-6 months if they have cirrhosis.
Regarding daily life, patients need to drink enough water, increase green vegetables and fruits to support liver function. When going for examination, patients should honestly declare the amount of alcohol and beer they have used so that doctors have a basis to develop appropriate treatment regimens.
