Subclinical alcohol related liver disease in young people – below the surface

Alcohol related liver disease (ARLD) is often subclinical until patients develop decompensated cirrhosis or alcoholic hepatitis, by which point the only curative treatment is liver transplantation. However, the pre-cursor to ARLD cirrhosis, fibrosis, is reversible, with primarily lifestyle measures to omit alcohol. Therefore, early detection of fibrosis is important. This study represents one of the first attempts to characterise prevalence of alcohol related fibrosis in young adults utilising the ALSPAC cohort. It also explores the growing recognition of overlap of ARLD with obesity related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.