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by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.
Understanding why alcohol accelerates liver disease can help a
person make the important commitment to stop drinking. Find out for
yourself exactly why drinking is no longer an option for someone with a
compromised liver.
When a person is diagnosed with any kind of liver disease, a
physician will provide them with and recommend a list of lifestyle
changes. The first and most important instruction for learning to live
with liver disease revolves around not drinking any alcoholic
beverages. These instructions are given because, in addition to causing liver disease, alcohol can also exponentially worsen existing
liver disease. The directive to “stop drinking alcohol” is sometimes
ignored by anyone who is not ready to abandon booze. Regardless of how
well meaning this typical physician order is, commands dictating
someone to end a habit, recreation or addiction, often fail.
Alcoholism statistics in the United States are staggering. There are
approximately 14 million people in the U.S. addicted to alcohol, with
millions more displaying symptoms of abuse, including binge drinking.
Alcohol addiction, or alcohol dependence, is defined as having at least
3 of the following signs:
· A tolerance for alcohol (needing increased amounts to achieve the same effect)
· Withdrawal symptoms
· Drinking alcohol in larger amounts than intended, or over a longer period of time than intended
· Having a persistent desire to decrease, or the inability to decrease, the amount of alcohol consumed
· Spending a great deal of time attempting to acquire alcohol
· Continuing to use alcohol even though there are recurring physical or psychological problems being caused by the alcohol
Whether a person has recognized their drinking problem, is in denial
about it, or just considers him or herself to be a social drinker,
quitting drinking is filled with challenges. Hopefully, physicians
advising people to abstain from alcohol provide a list of resources and
support to help a person stop drinking.
Metabolism
After you swallow an alcoholic drink, about 25 percent of the alcohol
is absorbed immediately from your stomach directly into the
bloodstream. The remaining 75 percent makes its way to the small bowel
where it then gets absorbed in the blood. Once in the bloodstream,
alcohol remains in the body until it is metabolized. About 90 – 98
percent of alcohol is broken down in the liver. The other 2 – 10
percent is excreted via:
· Urination
· Exhalation
· Perspiration
The primary way alcohol is broken down, or metabolized, by the liver
is through the action of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). ADH
breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde.
Acetaldehyde
Many people have experienced an upset stomach or vomited after
drinking. The byproduct of alcohol metabolism, acetaldehyde, is a
highly toxic substance. One of the many roles of the human liver is to
filter toxins out of the body. Unfortunately, excessive toxin exposure
damages the liver by killing its cells, reducing its ability to
function.
A person with liver disease already has a compromised liver, rendering
it incapable of effectively filtering out additional toxins.
Acetaldehyde (not the ethanol in an alcoholic beverage) is the
molecule that causes impairment or drunkenness. Scientists have
discovered that when acetaldehyde is bound to human liver plasma
membranes, hepatic cell destruction occurs. Adding acetaldehyde to a
liver already struggling with illness is analogous to kicking a man
when he is already down.
Tolerance
Resulting from prolonged or heavy use, alcohol tolerance refers to
progressively more consumption required to achieve the same altered
state. There are two main types of tolerance resulting from prolonged
or heavy use of alcohol:
1. Metabolic tolerance – Occurring in response to
increased alcohol consumption, metabolic tolerance causes the liver to
increase its production of alcohol dehydrogenase. This increase in
enzyme production leads to a faster metabolization of the alcohol,
resulting in a lower blood alcohol content and faster elimination. The
increase in alcohol dehydrogenase production corresponds with increased
stress on the liver.
2. Functional tolerance – By adapting to chronic alcohol
use, functional tolerance results when a person’s sensitivity to
alcohol’s effects is lowered. However, while a person’s sensitivity to
alcohol’s effects may be decreased, blood alcohol content continues to
rise. Although tolerance increases with alcohol consumption, the liver
does not become more tolerant, and is increasingly damaged over the
course of time.
Hepatitis C
Researchers have demonstrated that alcohol promotes proliferation of
Hepatitis C in human liver cells. Researchers at the Children’s
Hospital in Philadelphia found that alcohol increases the activity of a
protein called nuclear factor kappa B, which causes the Hepatitis C
virus to replicate. Furthermore, they found that alcohol interferes
with the antiviral activity of interferon-alpha, a key therapy used for
patients infected with Hepatitis C. In addition to making therapy
useless, these findings clearly show that someone with Hepatitis C who
drinks alcohol is literally helping their viral load skyrocket.
While instructions from your doctor to quit drinking may not be
enough to change your ways, learning how alcohol worsens liver disease
may serve as sufficient motivation. It is easy to see why healthcare
practitioner and Hepatitis C survivor Ralph Napolitano refers to
drinking alcohol with liver disease as pouring gasoline on a fire.
Whether you live with Hepatitis C or have any other liver disease,
alcohol’s transformation to acetaldehyde unleashes a known, potent
toxin onto your liver. Since tolerance to alcohol puts even further
stress on an already disadvantaged liver, and drinking alcohol
increases the Hepatitis C virus’ replication, it is obvious why doctors
advise its avoidance. While no one claims it is easy to quit drinking,
the documentation supporting alcohol’s damaging effects with liver
disease are irrefutable.
Now that you know the facts – that alcohol negatively affects liver
health – take every step necessary to completely abandon this harmful
toxin.
References:
www.cumc.columbia.edu, Alcoholism Liver Disease, Howard J. Worman, MD, 2007.
www.intox.com, Alcohol and the Human Body, Intoximeters, Inc., 2007.
www.medicalnewstoday.com, How Alcohol Use May Worsen Hepatitis C Infection, John Ascenzi, MediLexicon International, Ltd., 2007.
www.mental-health-matters.com, Alcohol Addiction, Get Mental Help, Inc., 2007.
www.mydr.com.au, How Your Liver Processes Alcohol, CMPMedica Australia, 2007.
www.oregoncounseling.com, Biological Impacts of Alcohol Use: an Overview, Michaele P. Dunlap, Psy. D, 2007.
www.stopaddiction.com, Alcoholism Statistics, Narconon of Oklahoma, Inc., 2007.
www.rochester.edu, Tolerance and Beyond, University of Rochester, 2007.
http://www.liversupport.com/wordpress/2007/11/alcohols-negative-impact-on-liver-disease/
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