Liver And Alcohol: An Incompatible Match

I have made an important discovery… that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.-Oscar Wilde

Liver and alcohol, they never match. Even one dose of alcohol surely puts an adverse effect on the liver. Though the liver can process a certain amount of alcohol from time to time, if a person goes for excessive alcohol consumption, the liver won’t process the alcohol fully. The person will become intoxicated as a result and will start having many complications. High alcohol consumption can damage the liver cells and cause fatty liver, chronic liver disease, and scarred liver. It can even lead to liver cancer which can only be managed effectively with Liver surgery.

Let’s understand how the liver gets affected by alcohol consumption.

How Alcohol Affect The Liver?

The liver helps to filter out the harmful substances from the body and help to transform essential nutrients, vitamins, and medicines into substances, which our body needs. The liver also purifies the blood and produce bile for digestion.

A liver cannot process any alcoholic beverages quickly. Too much of alcohol consumption makes it quite difficult for the liver to process and thus, most of it passes along the circulatory system. As a result, it put an adverse effect on the body, particularly on the brain and heart. Regular consumption of alcohol, moreover, causes catastrophic effects on the liver. It damages the liver cells, triggering cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Fatty liver is the most common complication of alcohol consumption.

Symptoms Of Liver Disease:

People who regularly consume alcohol, develop a higher risk of liver disease. Moreover, who has a family history with a liver problem can also have a high risk of liver disease, even with much lesser alcohol consumption. The alcoholic liver disease carries many recognizable symptoms, such as-

1. Fever and Shivering,

2. Jaundice,

3. Fluid build-up in the abdomen,

4. Irritation in the skin (itching and burning sensation),

5. Blood in vomit and stools,

6. Internal bleeding,

7. Rapid weight loss,

8. Weakness and muscle spasm,

Treatment For Liver Disease:

Avoid Alcohol:

For people, who are diagnosed with fatty liver disease, it is better to stop drinking alcohol immediately, because a mild, fatty liver can heal over time, by doing so. However, when this becomes chronic there is a much lesser possibility to heal without medication and might even lead to Liver Surgery. But drinking alcohol will interfere with the treatment and the patient must quit it anyhow.

Medications:

Proper medicines can help reduce inflammation and can improve the liver condition, but only over time and mostly mild fatty liver.

Lifestyle Change:

Lifestyle change can also be very effective to deal with fatty liver. Positive changes like quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, and daily exercise, etc. can also improve the liver condition.

For patients with a serious condition, the doctor advises extensive medications. But if there is not much improvement happens, they may recommend undergoing liver surgery.

On this alcohol awareness month, Varanasi Hospital encourages the individual to quit alcohol and resume a healthy lifestyle.