Alcoholic liver disease in Japan.

From these discussions, it is apparent that: Alcoholic liver disease is increasing at a rapid rate in conjunction with an increase of annual gross and per capita consumption of alcohol. Alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic hyaline are much less common in Japan compared to western countries. Alcoholic hepatic fibrosis and chronic hepatitis are the common types of alcoholic liver disease in Japan. Alcoholic hepatic fibrosis may be a pathological process or entity independent of fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis. It is not clear at the present time whether heavy alcohol consumption per se or non-A, non-B hepatitis virus is the cause of chronic hepatitis seen in HBsAg negative alcoholics.