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If you think one must be a heavy drinker to suffer from this
condition, you ought to read this article. Discover the causes, risk
factors and complications of alcoholic hepatitis. Share this
information with others. After reading this, anyone with liver concerns
may want to abandon intoxicating beverages altogether.
Alert to Alcoholic hepatitis
Daily Mirror Health Line
Compiled by Naveen Jayawardena
www.dailymirror.lk
Monday, May 12, 2008
Alcohol has long been associated with serious liver diseases such as
hepatitis - inflammation of the liver. But the relationship between
drinking and alcoholic hepatitis is complex. Only a small percentage of
heavy drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis, yet the disease can occur
in people who drink only moderately or binge just once. And though
damage from alcoholic hepatitis often can be reversed in people who
stop drinking, the disease is likely to progress to cirrhosis and liver
failure in people who continue to drink. For them, alcoholic hepatitis
may be fatal.
Causes
· Genetic factors. Having mutations in certain genes that affect
alcohol metabolism may increase your risk of alcoholic liver disease as
well as of alcohol-associated cancers. Genetic factors may account for
half of any person's susceptibility to alcohol-related disease.
· Other types of hepatitis. Long-term alcohol abuse worsens the
liver damage caused by other types of hepatitis, especially hepatitis
C. If you have hepatitis C and also drink - even moderately - you are
more likely to develop cirrhosis than is someone who doesn't drink.
· Other diseases. People who drink alcohol are more likely to
develop alcoholic hepatitis if they also have another disease that
affects the liver, such as diabetes or iron overload (hemochromatosis)
- a disorder in which the body stores too much iron.
· Obesity. Although most researchers agree that obesity makes
alcoholic liver disease worse, exactly why this is so isn't clear. It
may be that alcohol causes fatty tissue to produce certain hormones and
cytokines - immune system proteins that increase inflammation.
· Malnutrition. Many people who drink heavily are malnourished,
either because they eat poorly - often substituting alcohol for food -
or because alcohol and its toxic byproducts prevent the body from
properly absorbing and metabolizing nutrients, especially protein,
certain vitamins and fats. In both cases, the lack of nutrients
contributes to liver cell damage. It was once thought that
malnutrition, rather than alcohol, caused alcoholic liver disease. Now,
the relationship between the two appears more complicated. But it's
certain that drinking leads to malnutrition, which damages the liver
and contributes to some of the serious complications of alcoholic liver
disease.
Risk factors
· Alcohol use. Consistent heavy drinking or binge drinking is the
primary risk factor for alcoholic hepatitis, though it's hard to
precisely define heavy drinking. Some experts believe that four or more
drinks a day for men and two or more a day for women greatly increase
the risk of liver damage. Moderate drinking is usually defined as no
more than two drinks a day for men and one for women. But because
people vary greatly in their sensitivity to alcohol, that amount may
not actually be moderate for everyone. Whether certain types of alcohol
cause more harm than others also is a matter of debate. Some experts
believe that wine is less damaging than hard liquor is, although it may
be that wine drinkers generally tend to have healthier lifestyles.
· Age. The effects of alcoholic hepatitis are most likely to show up
after years of heavy drinking, but symptoms of disease can develop in
people as young as 20.
· Your sex. Women are two to three times as likely to develop
alcoholic liver disease as men are. It takes less alcohol to harm the
liver in women, and when liver disease occurs, it progresses more
quickly than it does in men. This disparity may result from differences
in the way alcohol is absorbed and broken down. Because women tend to
metabolize alcohol more slowly, their livers are exposed to the higher
blood concentrations of alcohol for longer periods of time - with
potentially greater toxicity. The slow rate of alcohol metabolism in
women may be due to lower levels of stomach enzymes that break down
alcohol, the effects of estrogen or even the size of a woman's liver.
· Genetic factors. Researchers have discovered a number of genetic
mutations that affect the way alcohol is metabolized in the body.
Having one or more of these mutations may increase the risk of
alcoholic liver disease and liver cancer.
Complications
· Increased blood pressure in the portal vein. Blood from your
intestine, spleen and pancreas enters your liver through a large blood
vessel called the portal vein. If scar tissue blocks normal circulation
through the liver, this blood backs up, leading to increased pressure
within the vein.
· Enlarged veins (varices). When circulation through the portal vein
is blocked, blood may back up into other blood vessels in the stomach
and esophagus. These blood vessels are thin walled, and because they're
filled with more blood than they're meant to carry, they're likely to
bleed.
· Fluid retention. Alcoholic liver disease can cause large amounts of fluid to accumulate in your abdominal cavity (ascites).
· Bruising and bleeding. Alcoholic hepatitis interferes with the
production of proteins that help your blood clot and with the
absorption of vitamin K, which plays a role in synthesizing these
proteins. As a result, you may bruise and bleed more easily than
normal. Bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract is particularly common.
· Jaundice. This occurs when your liver isn't able to remove
bilirubin - the residue of old red blood cells - from your blood.
Eventually, bilirubin builds up and is deposited in your skin and the
whites of your eyes, causing a yellow color.
· Hepatic encephalopathy. A liver damaged by alcoholic hepatitis has
trouble removing toxins from your body - normally one of the liver's
key tasks. The buildup of toxins such as ammonia can damage your brain,
leading to changes in your mental state, behavior and personality.
· Cirrhosis. This serious condition, which is an insidious and
irreversible scarring of the liver. Cirrhosis frequently leads to liver
failure, which occurs when the damaged liver is no longer able to
adequately function.
http://www.hepatitis-central.com
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