Know how alcohol damages the liver

Most Alcoholic drinks contain a form of alcohol known as ethanol. The ethanol is a by product of the fermentation or distillation procedure in making alcohol. This very ethanol is the major content in all alcoholic beverages and also what makes them so detrimental to human health. Ethanol acts as a psychoactive drug in the human body and as a depressant. Short-term effects aside, ethanol is more lethal when the body starts needing regular dosages of it. It causes a range of illnesses to a number of parts in the human body right from the brain, down to the liver. The adverse effects of alcohol on human body vary based on dosage, but once you become addicted to alcohol, that dosage will seem insignificant. The broad array of alcohol-based illnesses includes dementia, cancer, stroke and various liver disorders such as liver cirrhosis. One of the commonest alcoholic liver diseases is liver cirrhosis. Liver Cirrhosis is basically the slow death of the liver effected predominantly by continued over consumption of alcohol. Liver cirrhosis takes years to develop and gives a patient timely warning before its onset. The first warnings affect liver during metabolism. While the body is trying to break down the alcohol code, more toxic compounds such as acetaldehyde arise that damage liver cells and hinder their functioning. In order to stop the spread of this toxic substance, the body wages war on them causing inflammation. To cure the damage on the liver, the body releases chemical substances known as cytokines beyond reasonable limits. This affirms why most of the alcoholic liver disease is caused by exceeding reasonable limits of the drink. Cytokines are single handedly responsible for alcohol hepatitis and tissue scarring. Another common liver condition is the fatty liver. Fatty liver is a condition where the fats accumulate in liver cells. In case one takes a lot of fatty substances, then you give the liver too much fat to process, and eventually leads to liver failure as too much of any thing is always bad. Alcohol hepatitis is a more generic condition which affects the efficiency of the liver. The liver is a massive organ in the body and does some 1500 distinct processes per day. For regular drinkers, it is advisable to stop drinking. In case one contracts an alcoholic liver disease, gives sufficient proof that his life’s quota for alcohol consumption is over. It is worth to notice that liver diseases may not necessarily be fatal, but if the cirrhosis arrives surviving it becomes quite a handful. People should not ignore the magnanimity of a malfunctioning liver, due to its worst consequences. Liver cirrhosis is a permanent disability. Cirrhosis of the liver effects more than just digestion. Such a liver is no longer able to make new healthy tissues and instead makes scar tissues as the liver begins to harden. The scar tissues are nowhere as efficient as normal tissues and can barely filter blood. This causes a cycle of liver degeneration and you need to be really lucky to survive cirrhosis. Ends