Is alcohol bad for your liver?
Your liver is responsible for filtering and detoxifying your blood. When you drink, alcohol travels through your bloodstream and passes through your liver, where it is broken down. During this process, chemicals are introduced into that environment, which means liver cells can become scarred, damaged or destroyed. The more you drink, the more likely you are to damage your liver and develop liver disease.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports, “there are more than 178,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use, making alcohol one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States, behind tobacco, poor diet, physical inactivity, and illegal drugs.”
What are the symptoms of liver disease?
Three distinct types of liver disease can result from excessive alcohol consumption:
- Fatty liver or hepatic steatosis, which occurs when too much fat has built up in the liver.
- Alcoholic hepatitis, which is characterized by liver inflammation.
- Alcohol-related cirrhosis, which involves scarred liver tissue replacing normal liver tissue.
If you have liver cirrhosis, you could experience symptoms that signal your liver is no longer functioning correctly. These symptoms include, but are not limited to:
- Yellowing of your skin and/or eyes (also known as jaundice)
- Pain and swelling in your abdomen, legs and/or ankles
- Itchy skin
- Dark-colored urine
- Pale-colored stool
- Chronic fatigue
- Easy bruising
If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, talk to your doctor or call the Firelands Gastroenterology Office at 419-627-0207. Firelands Health Gastroenterology provides personalized care and advanced treatment options to help manage liver disease.
If you're concerned about your alcohol use, it's never too late to make changes. Talk to your doctor about creating a plan to reduce your drinking and improve your liver health.
