Unfortunately, there are currently no drug treatments that decrease these patients risk of dying in the longer term, at 3–12 months and beyond.Weak evidence suggests milk thistle extracts may improve survival in alcoholic liver disease and improve certain liver tests (serum bilirubin and GGT) without causing side effects, but a firm recommendation cannot be made for or against milk thistle without further study. The modified Maddreys discriminant function may be used to evaluate the severity and prognosis in alcoholic hepatitis and evaluates the efficacy of using alcoholic hepatitis corticosteroid treatment. Autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune hepatitis is commonly treated by immunosuppressants such as the corticosteroids prednisone or prednisolone, the active version of prednisolone that does not require liver synthesis, either alone or in combination with azathioprine, and some have suggested the combination therapy is preferred to allow for lower doses of corticosteroids to reduce associated side effects, although the result of treatment efficacy is comparative.Treatment of autoimmune hepatitis consists of two phases; an initial and maintenance phase. The initial phase consists of higher doses of corticosteroids which are tapered down over a number of weeks to a lower dose. If used in combination, azathioprine is given during the initial phase as well. Once the initial phase has been completed, a maintenance phase that consists of lower dose corticosteroids, and in combination therapy, azathioprine until liver blood markers are normalized. Treatment results in 66-91% of patients achieving normal liver test values in two years, with the average being 22 months.
Several variants of fibrocystic breast changes may be distinguished and may vary in cause and genetic predisposition. Adenosis involves an abnormal count and density of lobular units, while other lesions appear to mainly arise from ductal epithelial origins. Theres evidence that iodine deficiency contributes to fibrocystic breast changes by enhancing breast tissue sensitivity to estrogen. Diagnosis
This is an exclusion diagnosis, mostly done based on the clinical presentation after ruling out breast cancer. Nipple fluid aspiration can be used as a classification cyst type method (and to some extent improve breast cancer risk prediction) but its rarely used in practice. Biopsy or fine needle aspiration are rarely warranted.Fibrocystic breast disease is primarily diagnosed based on the symptoms, clinical breast exam and physical exam. During this examination, the doctor looks for unusual breast areas, both visually and manually. Also, the lymph nodes located in the axilla and lower neck are examined. A complete and accurate medical history is also helpful in the diagnosing process. If the patients medical history and physical exam findings are consistent with normal breast changes, no additional tests are needed; otherwise the patient will be asked to return a few weeks later for reassessment. Women may detect lumps in their breasts during self-examination, if this happens its strongly advised to visit a health professional right away. Imaging
In order to establish whether the lump is a cyst or not, several imaging tests may be performed, these may include: mammography, X-rays, MRIs and ultrasound studies.