How to Protect your Liver from Alcohol abuse?

Alcohol Abuse: How to Protect your Liver from Alcohol abuse?

Introduction

How to Protect your Liver from alcohol abuse?

image of human liverIf you know how to protect your liver from alcohol abuse then you are on the path of reducing the risk of heart disease. Liver is the main organ that is affected by consuming alcohol. Alcohol is directly absorbed in the blood stream and goes to the liver for digestion. If consumption of alcohol is regular and in more quantity, then the liver gets affected.

Therefore, it is important first to know how important is liver and its functions in the body.


Why & How you should consider stopping drinking?

 

Drinking alcohol is a modifiable risk factor for heart disease. If you wish you to have healthy heart you have to think of quitting alcohol. Otherwise along with heart disease you may suffer from alcoholism where your liver also gets affected. Your risk of heart disease will increase further. Your immunity also decreases and you may become susceptible to deadly viral infections. In the recent C*Virus attack, the most susceptible patents were those who had previous history of heart disease or diabetes. The vitamin C levels in heart patients is low which is responsible for low immunity.

To know more about how to quit alcohol visit the website


What is liver?

The liver is a vital organ located in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen. It is as large as a football, weighs 2-3 pounds, and performs numerous functions for the body.

 

Functions of Liver in the body:

 

  • Metabolizing and detoxifying substances that would otherwise be harmful to the body
  • Converting nutrients derived from food into essential blood components
  • Regulating blood clotting
  • Producing proteins and enzymes
  • Maintaining hormone balances
  • Storing some vitamins
  • Making factors that help the immune system fight infection
  • Removing bacteria from the blood
  • Making bile, which is essential for digestion

Bile flows through small bile ducts inside the liver. The bile moves from these small ducts into larger ones, like streams into a river, eventually converging into the common bile duct and exiting the liver. Some of the bile flows directly to the duodenum; the rest is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder.

After a person eats, the gallbladder, a fist-sized organ that sits next to the liver, releases some of the stored bile into the small intestine, where it helps to digest fats.


Alcohol Abuse & Liver disease

Alcohol abuse is reflected as liver disease. Liver disease is any condition that causes liver inflammation or damage and may affect liver function.

It is categorized both by the cause and the effect it has on the liver.

Causes may include infection, injury, exposure to drugs or toxic compounds, an autoimmune process, or a genetic defect that leads to the depositing and build-up of damaging substances, such as iron or copper.

Effects of these injuries to the liver may include inflammation, scarring, obstructions, blood clotting abnormalities, and liver failure.


Does alcohol consumption damage the liver?

Other alcohol abuse disorders caused by excessive alcohol consumption are grouped under alcoholic liver diseases and these include:

  • Alcoholic hepatitis,
  • Fatty liver disease, and
  • Cirrhosis of liver.

Factors contributing to the development of alcoholic liver diseases are not only the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, but can also include gender, genetics, and liver insult.


Signs and Symptoms of Liver Disease due to Alcohol Abuse

Liver disease may not cause any symptoms at first or the symptoms may be nonspecific, like weakness and loss of energy.
In acute liver disease, the most common signs and symptoms include:

  • Those related to problems processing bilirubin, such as yellow skin and eyes (jaundice), dark urine, and light stools
  • loss of appetite
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea

Chronic liver disease symptoms may also include jaundice, dark urine, and light stools but also can produce signs and symptoms such as:

  • Abdominal swelling (due to ascites)
  • Itching (pruritus)
  • Unexplained weight loss or gain
  • Abdominal pain

These symptoms usually do not develop until the disease has reached an advanced stage.


What is Alcohol Abuse?

Alcohol use problems range from occasional problem drinking to alcohol misuse to alcoholism. Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is often progressive and fatal.


Signs and Symptoms of alcoholism

 

signs and symptoms of alcohol abuseAs outlined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), those affected experience:

  • Physical dependence: withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking
  • Tolerance: the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get the same experience as achieved initially
    Craving: a strong need, or urge, to drink
  • Loss of control: not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun

Alcohol abuse definition; According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol misuse is a pattern of drinking that results in particular problematic situations, such as failure to fulfill major work, school, or home duties or having recurring alcohol-related legal problems, such as arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 15 million American adults misuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. In the United States, nearly 20% of patients treated in general medical practices report drinking at levels considered “risky” or “hazardous.” According to NIAAA, less than 10% of patients with alcohol use disorder receive alcohol abuse treatment.


Long-term health risks of alcohol abuse

According to the CDC, long-term, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of several medical and social problems. These include:

  • Neurological conditions, including dementia, stroke and neuropathy, or diseased peripheral nerves
  • Cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack, weakened and enlarged heart, irregular heart beat, and high blood pressure
  • Psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, and suicide
  • Cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast; in general, the more you drink, the greater your risk.
  • Liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis (inflammation) and cirrhosis (scarring), which is among the 15 leading causes of death in the United States
  • Gastrointestinal disease, including pancreatitis and gastritis

Having hepatitis C virus (HCV) and using alcohol reduces liver function and can interfere with medications taken to treat the HCV. In addition, if you have another form of liver disease (including hepatitis C), alcohol can make the disease more likely to progress to cirrhosis and cause death.

Women tend to be more sensitive to the effects of alcohol and may develop alcohol-related health problems sooner and after consuming less alcohol than men do. Alcohol use in pregnant women can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, and other problems in the baby, such as abnormal facial features, malformation of organs (such as the brain and heart), growth deficits, and hearing and vision problems. Brain damage due to a mother’s alcohol use may result in behavioral problems, speech and language delays, and learning disabilities, according to the March of Dimes.


How to protect your liver from alcoholism?

 

Treatment of alcoholism

There’s no cure for alcohol dependence or alcoholism. Overcoming addiction can be a long process that requires both personal dedication and various treatments or therapies. Your optimal treatment plan will depend on your personal circumstances, including your:

  • prior history of alcohol dependence
  • level of support from family and friends
  • personal commitment to becoming and remaining sober
  • financial situation

If you’re ready to face your addiction, make an appointment with your doctor. They will likely ask you a series of questions to determine your level of addiction. These questions can also help them determine which treatment option is best suited to your needs. They may also want to speak with some of your friends or relatives to gauge your addiction, symptoms, and treatment opportunities.

Your doctor or therapist may recommend one or more of the following treatment options:

  • detoxification
  • behavior modification
  • counseling
  • medications

Detoxification

Many treatment plans begin with a detoxification program to help break your body’s physical addiction to alcohol. Detoxification is often performed in an inpatient therapy treatment center or hospital. It typically takes one week to complete. Because the symptoms of physical withdrawal can be dramatic, you may also be given medications to help prevent:

  • shaking
  • confusion
  • hallucinations
  • convulsions

Behavior modification

People who misuse alcohol are often addicted to the act of drinking, as much as the alcohol itself. For that reason, you may need to learn skills and coping mechanisms to help you avoid alcohol once you leave a treatment center or return to familiar environments where the urge to drink may be stronger. Your doctor may refer you to a counselor or other treatment program to help you learn those skills and coping strategies.

Counseling

Your doctor may also refer you to one-on-one or group counseling. Support groups can be especially helpful when you’re going through treatment for alcohol addiction. A support group can help you connect with other people who are facing similar challenges. They can help answer questions, provide encouragement, and direct you to support resources.

Medications

Several medications are used to treat alcohol addiction. They include:

  • disulfiram, an alcohol-sensitizing drug that may lower your desire to drink by making you sick when you consume alcohol. When combined with alcohol, it can cause flushing, nausea, vomiting, and headaches.
  • acamprosate, which may help combat alcohol cravings by restoring the balance of certain chemicals in your brain.
  • naltrexone,which blocks the feel-good effects that alcohol has on your brain. Without those good feelings, you may feel less inclined to drink.

Naltrexone is available in the form of an oral tablet or injection. Vivitrol is an injected form of the drug that your doctor can give you once a month. It may be more reliable and convenient than oral pills, especially if you think you may forget or be unwilling to take a pill every day.

Alternative Treatment for Alcoholism

 

  • Counselling

alphaheroimage-125x125Group counselling is very useful method to recover from alcohol addiction. There are several counselling centers in India and USA. You can contact them for further details.

INDIA: Counselling, both individual and group, is an important aspect of substance abuse de-addiction. Counsellors are often experts in psychology and can help patients understand and conquer their addiction. Without proper counselling, the addict might never recover. We provide information on over 150 centres across India that offer addictions counselling to drug and alcohol addicts. List of counsellers in India.

USA: Get the details here


  • Allen Carr’s Stop Drinking Alcohol Program & Cources

Allen Carr,s alchol abuse treatmentAllen Carr’s Easyway International – Worldwide including India
Do you need help to quit? Quitting can be easy!
Allen Carr’s Easyway are in over 150 cities in over 50 countries worldwide as well as offering online programs.
All our facilitators are fully trained, have used the Allen Carr method to quit smoking, quit alcohol, quit drugs, quit sugar or lose weight themselves and undertaken our rigorous selection and training process to become qualified and practising Members of the Association of Allen Carr Facilitators International (MAACTI). You will find them understanding and sympathetic about any concerns you may have about quitting smoking. Please feel welcome to contact us if you’d like a no-pressure chat about attending a quit smoking clinic.

Click here to learn about Allen Carr’s international centers


  • Books by Allen Carr

You can read the book by Allen Carr

Allen carr-stop drinking and alcohol abuse now


  • Herbal Supplements for liver
  • Himalaya Liver Care for Total Liver Support, Cleanse and Detox, Protects Cells & Enzymes, 375 mg, 42 Capsules,

herbal supplement for liverherbal supplement for liver

A number of herbal supplements are available in India/USA for treating liver problems. Most popular are Live 52 and similar products. Learn about them here.

These Ayurvedic or herbal supplements are very effective.

Some of the other popular herbs used in detoxing liver are Milk Thisle, Passion Flower, Mucuna Pruriens and others.


  • Dietary Supplements for improving liver function

The process of metabolizing alcohol requires a number of nutrients. As the liver decreases its supply of these nutrients, the blood stream is called upon to replenish the supply. As a result, body cells are deprived of critical nutrients and normal body functions suffer. If you consume alcohol regularly and try to stop, you may suffer from alcohol abuse symptoms that include anxiety, insomnia, tremors, shakiness, dizziness, and depression. You may also experience impaired cognitive thinking and poor memory.

A number of dietary supplements containing the following nutrients are useful in treating liver problems. Many vitamins and amino acids get depleted in the body of the person consuming alcohol regularly. Some of them are listed here. Examples include: Vitamin C, B-Complex vitamins (B1, B2, B3, Pantothenic acid, B6, B12, Folic acid Phenylalanine,  Glutamin, Magnesium, SAMe, N-Acetyl Cystine and others.

Best Liver Supplements To Improve Liver Health

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  • Immunity Boosters for liver ailments

Immunity is lower in patients suffering from liver complications. Some of the immunity boosters based on ashwagandha, ginko giloba and vitamin c are very useful in increasing immunity.


  • Diet Recommendations

The following recommendation is made for people who consume alcohol:

  • Eat healthy. A simple way to do this is by following the food guide pyramid recommendations. The New Food Pyramid (on right) has a high proportion of vegetables and fruits with lower proportions of dairy and white meat, and a very small fraction of red meats and processed foods.
  • Avoid foods containing refined sugars and white flours.
  • Eat a wide variety of nutrient dense foods – stay away from junk food.
  • Drink an adequate amount of water each day. Water flushes toxins from your system and keeps your body working properly. A common recommendation is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. You may need more less, depending on how healthy you are, how much you exercise, etc.
  • Try to eat at least three healthy meals per each, even if your appetite is poor. Smaller portions are fine.
  • Avoid caffeine.
  • Avoid all sources of nicotine.
Summary

There are no potent drugs to treat liver disease.  You have to be very careful when you become alcoholic. Quitting drinking is the best option for you. Make use of the alternative options available to you. If you are having heart disease then quitting drinking is essential as alcohol consumption is one of the risk factors for heart disease. Various options are given in this article on how to protect your liver from alcohol abuse?


References

https://www.psychiatryinvestigation.org/m/journal/view.php?number=744

 

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