UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ageing and Age-related disease, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
Maturitas. 2010 Mar;65(3):210-4. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.11.010. Epub 2009 Dec 3.
Clinicians are seeing increasing number of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). The prevalence of diseases such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is increasing dramatically, our population is ageing and people with CLD are surviving into old age. Signs and symptoms of CLD in the older patient are often subtle and non-specific and a high index of suspicion is required in order to investigate. A number of diseases, which are predominate in women, tend to present in middle to older age. The menopause may render the liver more susceptible to disease progression and although hormone replacement appears safe in CLD but it is not recommended for liver protection. Osteoporosis is common in CLD but robust evidence is lacking on fracture prevention. Vigilance is required when interpreting investigations as there are no age-associated changes in clinical liver function testing. Management strategies are similar irrespective of age or gender, but evidence is lacking specific to older populations.
临床医生发现患有慢性肝病（CLD）的患者数量不断增加。非酒精性脂肪性肝病等疾病的患病率正在急剧上升，我国人口正在老龄化，患有 CLD 的患者寿命也在延长。老年患者的 CLD 症状和体征通常较为微妙且非特异性，因此需要高度怀疑才能进行调查。许多在女性中更为常见的疾病往往在中年到老年时出现。绝经可能使肝脏更容易受到疾病进展的影响，尽管在 CLD 中激素替代似乎是安全的，但不建议用于肝脏保护。骨质疏松症在 CLD 中很常见，但缺乏关于预防骨折的有力证据。在解释检查结果时需要保持警惕，因为临床肝功能检查没有与年龄相关的变化。无论年龄或性别如何，管理策略都是相似的，但缺乏针对老年人群的具体证据。
