When does alcoholism reach the fatal stages?

I have a person very close to me who is an alcoholic. I am afraid this person is going to die. He has been hospitalized 8 times for Acute Pancreatitis and continues to drink. His skin tone is much darker than it used to be, his eyes are yellow and he has lost a lot of weight. He is skinny everywhere except in his belly area. I have noticed that he gets "buzzed" every night and that he always seems confused. When he is sober he seems to have memory problems. Are there any signs I can look for to let me know if this is actually killing him or not? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he hardly eats dinner anymore due to drinking and often craves sweets before going to bed. I am really scared for him.