A 51-year-old male professional is in the habit of consuming six to eight rum and cokes each evening after work. He assures the nurse practitioner, who is performing his regular physical exam, that his drinking is under control and does not have negative implications for his work or family life. How could the nurse best respond to the patient’s statement?
A. "You are more than likely inflicting damage on your liver, but this damage would cease as soon as you quit drinking.
B. "That may be the case, but you are still creating a high risk of hepatitis A or B or liver cancer."
C. "In spite of that, the amount of alcohol you are drinking is likely to result first in cirrhosis and, if you continue, in hepatitis or fatty liver changes."
D. "When your body has to regularly break down that much alcohol, your blood and the functional cells in your liver accumulate a lot of potentially damaging toxic byproducts."
