My little brother who is roughly 22 is in college now and called me to get my advice cause he'd been experiencing light abdominal pain. Now I know he drinks a lot cause he's honest with me and that's a good thing. From what he tells me he drinks enough to get him drunk 4-5 nights out of the week. He's not a big guy (5'-7" and about 180) but enough to get him drunk would be about six or seven beers and maybe a shot or two. the thing is he's been doing this for about 3 months now (beginning of school year to now.) He says he hasn't noticed any yellowing of the skin,eyes or any other pain, just a slight discomfort in his abdomen and lower chest. I guess what I'm asking is is liver disease something that develops over a longer period of time or could it develop in a couple months? I've already told him that the main thing is to prevent the development of poor habits which will cause him to behave this way beyond his college years, but I just wanna gauge his risk factor at present.

Have him get a blood test that measures liver enzymes. There are cases of death caused by 3 drinks a day plus Tylenol. Rare, but it depends on the person. anyone who is taking strong meds for arthritis and such is monitored for elevated liver enzymes and all medication is stopped if the levels increase. you really do not want to wait till your skin turns yellow and permanent damage has occurred. He also needs to find a different form of entertainment.

Different people react differently to alcohol. I had friends at college who caused themselves severe liver problems from getting drunk everynight, even though they were very young and tough. I also had friends who got drunk everynight for 30 or 40 years, with no visible problems, then suddenly dropped dead. only a thorough medical check up will tell if your brother has already damaged his liver. if he hasn't yet, he will one day, so whatever, it is best if he stops drinking to excess as soon as possible because the demon booze will get him one day if he doesn't