Alcoholic Liver Disease: Pathobiology, Epidemiology and Clinical Aspects

Abstract

The most compelling section of this multiauthored book covers the epidemiology of alcoholic liver disease. More than a third of the book marshals evidence from all over the world that the incidence of liver disease is rapidly increasing in step with the increasing consumption of alcohol. One has only to look at the graphs to want to join the antialcohol forces, despite the gracious admission of Hans Popper that "many of the contributors to this volume, including myself, still believe that moderate drinking may add to the enjoyment of their lives." How to moderate drinking is the real problem, and one happily addressed in the last two chapters of the book, which deal with the treatment of alcoholism. Contemplating the scanty advances in the therapy of alcoholic liver disease over the past 40 years, I found these chapters an especially worthwhile reminder that in a rational society we would try