ALCOHOL AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE LIVER
SHOULD YOU DRINK ALCOHOL WITH A WEAKENED LIVER ?
Because of the recent widespread press regarding the benefit
of consuming "red wine" and heart disease protection, many
individuals with distressed and weakened livers have asked if they, too, could drink socially. Most people in the
United States who drink socially are used to having a glass of wine with dinner,
or, perhaps, a mixed drink at a party. Unfortunately, if you have a poor functioning liver,
any consumption of alcohol can potentially be deadly for your liver. And it does
not matter whether alcohol is consumed in a drink, in a non-prescription
product, or in cough syrup. If you have liver issues, alcohol in any form should
be completely and totally avoided.
IS IT JUST THE ALCOHOL?
OR SOMETHING IN THE ALCOHOL?
Regardless of the alcoholic beverage consumed, it is the
alcohol, itself, that is the culprit. Expensive drinks are just
as dangerous as cheap ones. A one-shot glass of whiskey has the same alcoholic
content as a 4 ounce glass of wine, or a 12 ounce can of beer. So…why is alcohol
such an enemy to people with a vulnerable liver?
As the primary organ of detoxification in the body, the liver breaks down
most of the alcohol a person drinks. As the liver breaks down alcohol,
certain deadly by-products are formed which can be more damaging to the body
than the alcohol itself. One of those products is acetaldehyde. This
by-product can actually cause liver scarring without inflammation. In most
cases, this happens by the interaction of specialized cells produced in
the liver to fight infection. For example, cytokines are produced by liver
cells and the immune system in response to infection or cell damage.
Alcohol use increases the number of cytokines produced. These cytokines
often go on a collision course with another type of specialized liver
cells, known as stellate cells.
In a normal liver, stellate cells function as storage depots for vitamin
A. If activated by cytokines, stellate cells divide rapidly to increase
their numbers. Activated stellate cells lose their vitamin A stores and
begin to constrict blood vessels that normally deliver oxygen to liver
cells. The result is the production of liver scarring without
inflammation. This is the primary pathway taken in alcoholic liver
cirrhosis.
Long term use of alcohol also increases the inflammatory process itself, a
natural body response to tissue damage or infection. This leads to the
overproduction of free radicals, molecules that can destroy healthy liver
tissue and interfere with important functions such as energy production.
Alcohol also interferes with the body's production of natural defenses
against these damaging free radicals (i.e. anti-oxidants). Thus, the
combination of free radical production and alcohol can lead to liver
damage.
A number of studies have shown that alcohol abuse (over 4
drinks per day) accelerates the progression of liver damage. In a person with
a compromised liver, this damage is associated with fibrosis and may double the risk of
making the liver worse. Other research has clearly shown that the
severity of liver damage and the potential for liver deterioration in alcoholics
versus non-alcoholics increases in the presence of a devitalized liver.
Recent studies have indicated that
the amount of damaging toxins in the blood rises in proportion to increasing alcohol
consumption, and drops when alcohol is avoided. This finding may explain why
alcoholics generally have a lower response rate to therapy than
non-alcoholics. Other studies have demonstrated a decreased rate of toxic
clearance from the body among people who drank alcohol, compared to those who
did not drink at all. And this decrease in response rate continues for up to six
months after stopping all alcohol intake.
Alcohol has also been implicated in the liver's inability to
regenerate and to repair itself, a reduced ability of the immune system to fight
off microbes, the stimulation of excessive fibrosis in the liver, and an
increased absorption and deposition of iron in the liver..
THE BOTTOM LINE - SHOULD YOU OR SHOULDN'T YOU DRINK?
For those with a distressed and weakened liver, there are no studies that show
conclusively that there is a safe amount of alcohol to drink. Some studies
indicate that there is increased liver breakdown in people with a weak liver who
have had more than 4 drinks of alcohol per day. Other studies demonstrate liver
damage can occur with as little as one drink of alcohol per day. Women appear to
be more susceptible than men to the damaging effects of alcohol. Women have a
lower body mass than men, and they accumulate a higher concentration of alcohol
in their blood after consuming the same number of alcoholic drinks. Women's
livers also appear to metabolize alcohol at a faster rate than do men's, and
their greater estrogen levels appear to add to the effects of alcohol
accumulating in their livers. The bottom line…Since no amount of alcohol has
been proven to be safe in persons affected with a compromised and weakened liver, it is strongly
recommended that these people should not drink ANY alcohol at
all.
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