It is easy to drink too much as there are many gatherings at the end of the year. The liver is also tired. It’s time to be aware of three alcohol-related diseases that can affect the liver.
‘Alcoholic fatty liver’ is caused by the destruction of fat in the liver
When alcohol enters the body and is absorbed by the liver, it turns into ‘acetaldehyde’. Acetaldehyde breaks down fat in the liver and turns it into lipid peroxide. When this lipid peroxide builds up continuously, it leads to alcoholic fatty liver.
Even if most people have alcoholic fatty liver, they do not feel the initial symptoms and continue to drink alcohol to develop the disease. As the liver swells and swells, it is accompanied by abdominal discomfort, loss of appetite, indigestion, and fatigue.
If you have a fatty liver, there is a risk of cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease in the future, so you must be treated and managed. The weight needs to be controlled through regular diet control, abstinence from alcohol, and exercise.
Inflammation of the liver and symptoms such as jaundice, ‘alcoholic hepatitis’
Alcoholic hepatitis is a condition in which hepatocytes are necrotic and inflamed. Most often, it appears as a chronic disease that progresses from acute to cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis is a stage before cirrhosis of the liver, and in many cases, what is known as ‘fibrosis’, where scarring occurs in the liver when it is biopsied, has developed.
Fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, pain in the right side of the abdomen, and jaundice. Rarely, it may present as hepatic encephalopathy or ascites. For treatment, you must refrain from drinking.
‘Alcoholic cirrhosis’ increases the risk of liver cancer
It is a condition where the liver is severely damaged, as liver cells die and are replaced by scar tissue. Because the liver cannot form protein, bleeding does not stop and bruises easily. Ascites may fill, and esophageal veins may rupture, causing blood to be vomited and bloody stools. The liver is no longer able to detoxify, increasing the risk of unconsciousness or coma.
Once you become a patient with cirrhosis, the 5-year survival rate, which is an important indicator, varies greatly depending on whether you abstain from drinking or not. About 25% of patients with cirrhosis are at risk of developing liver cancer. You should stop drinking completely.
