Alcohol and Your Liver

Excessive consumption of alcohol for years can cause liver damage and diseases. A Healthy Liver will be damaged and develops various health complications and issues, because of the consumption of alcohol for a longer period.

Symptoms of a diseased liver 

Symptoms become visible and felt gradually until severe liver damage. Throughout heavy drinking, symptoms worsen. Following are a few symptoms you may experience when your liver is damaged. 

• Nausea 
• Appetite loss and weight loss 
• Fatigue 
• Stomach pain 
• Eyes becoming yellow
• Drowsiness 
• Passing blood in stools or vomiting blood 

If you regularly consume alcohol you must check your liver conditions often by taking a few tests and examinations. By doing this regularly you will be able to diagnose your liver diseases during the early stages. Liver treatment in India has been recognised as the ultimate option for skilfully treating damaged and diseased liver.

Alcohol and Your Liver

The liver could be considered one of the vital organs in the body. The functions of your liver include:

• Filters unwanted toxins from entering the blood
• Prevents indigestion issues 
• Aiding your body to fight diseases and infections 
• Regulating cholesterol and blood sugar levels 

The liver is very flexible and it can regenerate by itself. Some of the cells in the liver are damaged and die during the process of filtering the alcohol. These dead cells are usually regenerated into new healthy cells, but drinking plenty of alcohol for years can reduce the liver's capacity to regenerate. This can cause serious damage permanently to your liver. 

Stages of alcoholic liver diseases 

There are three stages of alcohol-related liver diseases and we have discussed them below. 

1. Fatty liver disease 

Drinking alcohol consistently or even for a few days, exorbitantly beyond the limits can cause liver damage. Over consumption of alcohol leads to the accumulation of fats in the liver. This type of health condition is the first stage of liver damage and is known as alcoholic fatty liver disease 

You will not be experiencing any warning symptoms and therefore you must monitor the functioning capacity of your liver regularly. However, the good news is that this Fatty liver disease condition is reversible. Your Liver will heal and become normal healthy life if you stay away for two weeks from drinking alcohol  

2. Alcoholic hepatitis

Alcoholic hepatitis is a more chronic health issue caused by drinking plenty of alcohol regularly for a very long period. Once the patient is diagnosed, they become aware of how their drinking habit has severely damaged the liver and try quitting. 

Sometimes alcoholic hepatitis occurs when you binge drink a large amount of alcohol within a short period. This type of liver disease occurs in two stages:

• Mild alcoholic hepatitis is an early stage of alcoholic hepatitis and at this stage, if you stop permanently drinking, then your liver becomes normal and healthy once again.
• Severe alcoholic hepatitis is a life-threatening chronic illness that is not reversible even if you stop alcohol intake. The sad fact is most patients will find out their condition only at this stage.

3. Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is the chronically diseased stage where the liver has been severely scarred. You might not be experiencing any obvious symptoms even at this stage, which is very painful. Generally, at this stage, your condition is not reversible, but you can stop damaging the liver furthermore and significantly extend your lifetime. If you are diagnosed with cirrhosis and continue drinking alcohol, then you have very less chances of survival. 

Treatment for alcohol-related liver disease

There is no specific treatment for curing the liver damage caused by severe drinking habits. The chief treatment recommended by a Liver Specialist in India is to terminate the drinking habit permanently for your entire life. This choice gives a chance for your liver to heal, recover and prevent further severe damage.

If the patient is an alcoholic and finds it difficult to quit drinking alcohol, then your health condition will only worsen. Vanya Health is a wonderful Medical Tourism Company that can offer advice and support for availing the best treatment options available in the country with detailed information about well-experienced and highly qualified Doctors and surgeons to treat your condition. 

When is a liver Transplant required?

In chronic cases when a patient's health condition does not improve even after stopping alcohol consumption permanently, a liver transplant may be recommended by your doctor. When your health condition worsens and develops cirrhosis-related complications despite permanently stopping your drinking habits, you will be considered for a liver transplant. Once your doctors suggest a Liver Transplant in India, you should completely restrict yourself from drinking until the liver transplantation and also for the rest of your life. 

Tips to prevent alcohol-related liver disease

Always the best way to prevent liver diseases is to never exceed the recommended limits of alcohol or better to permanently stop consuming alcohol. Even if you have been a chronic consumer of alcohol for years, stopping or reducing alcohol intake can do wonders for the overall health condition of your liver.