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Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on November 22, 2008
Age and Ageing 2009 38(1):11-18; doi:10.1093/ageing/afn242
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Review

Chronic liver disease in an ageing population

James Frith, David Jones and Julia L. Newton

Biomedical Research Centre in Ageing, Liver Theme and Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE2 4HH, UK

Address correspondence to: Julia L. Newton. Tel: (+44) 191 2824128. Email: Julia.newton{at}nuth.nhs.uk

The prevalence of chronic liver disease is increasing in the elderly population. With a mostly asymptomatic or non-specific presentation, these diseases may easily go undiagnosed. Abnormal liver function tests of unknown cause are a common reason for referral to secondary care. Investigating the older person with abnormal liver function is important; even with mild abnormalities, the same vigilance should be applied to an older person as in a young person. Liver biopsy is safe but often overlooked in this age group and may provide useful information to diagnose, direct therapy and prognosticate. Treatment options are similar for all age groups, with a few subtle differences, although further evidence is frequently required for the older population. Morbidity and age-adjusted mortality are often more severe in older people, and therefore early diagnosis and intervention is important. Presented here are the most common chronic liver diseases that geriatricians are likely to encounter in clinical practise. Their epidemiology, clinical features, investigation, treatment and mortality are described with a particular focus on the elderly population.

Keywords: chronic, liver disease, elderly

Received 30 March 2008; accepted in revised form 29 August 2008.


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