It is easy to drink too much as there are many gatherings at the end of the year. The liver is also tired. It is time to be aware of three alcohol-related diseases that can affect the liver.
‘Alcoholic fatty liver’ 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 continuously accumulates, 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 enlarges, it is accompanied by discomfort in the abdomen, loss of appetite, indigestion, and fatigue.
If you have fatty liver, there is a risk of leading to cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease in the future, so you must be treated and managed. It is necessary to control the weight through regular diet management, 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 presents in the form of a chronic disease that develops from acute to cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis is a pre-stage of liver cirrhosis, and in many cases, so-called ‘fibrosis’, in which scarring occurs in the liver when biopsied, has progressed.
Fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, pain in the right side of the abdomen, and jaundice. Rarely, it may appear in the form of hepatic encephalopathy or ascites. For treatment, you must abstain from drinking.
Alcoholic cirrhosis increases the risk of liver cancer
It is a condition in which the liver is severely damaged, such as the death of liver cells and scar tissue taking their place. Because the liver cannot form protein, bleeding does not stop and bruises easily. Ascites may fill up, and esophageal veins may rupture, causing blood to vomit 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, an important indicator, varies greatly depending on whether or not you abstain from drinking. About 25% of patients with cirrhosis are at risk of developing liver cancer. You should absolutely stop drinking.