Liver Transplants & Patients with Alcoholism
Liver transplant recipients with a history of alcoholism are much less likely to start drinking again if they undergo substance-abuse treatment before and after their transplant, new research finds. And a second study shows that continued alcohol abuse after a liver transplant raises the risk of transplant failure. Both studies were published in the October 2013 issue of the journal Liver Transplantation. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the second most common reason for liver transplants in the United States and Europe, but research suggests that anywhere from 10 percent to 90 percent of ALD patients who get a new liver start drinking again after their transplant.