Almost any event in adults is accompanied by drinking alcohol. These are birthdays, corporate holidays, family gatherings. Some people do not feel the need for intoxication in order to be free and have easy conversations. But people with a tendency to develop alcohol dependence are always few drinks. As a result, any holiday and event for them becomes an occasion to get drunk. Over time, such drinkers will inevitably develop alcoholic hepatosis, the symptoms and treatment of which are described in this article.
How does the liver respond to alcohol
Ethanol - the so-called substance that is in any alcoholic drink and due to which intoxication occurs. In the Soviet years, this component was equated with narcotic substances; therefore, the government organized “prohibition” and labor camps for addicts.
To date, alcohol does not cause any terror. Even teenagers and pregnant women drink freely at their pleasure. Alcohol has the property of relaxing and pacifying a person (this is a deceptive feeling, but more about that another time). It’s rare that anyone wonders what a tiny dose of ethanol-containing drinks inflicts on the liver.
After ingestion, ethanol undergoes many structural changes in order to lose its toxicity. It is human liver cells that even huge doses of alcoholic beverages do not kill the body.
The liver is the only organ in the body that has the ability to regenerate. But with regular abuse of alcoholic beverages, the body surrenders: fatty degeneration of organ cells begins, alcoholic liver hepatosis develops.
How often should I drink to get liver problems
The development of the disease is very individual and depends on the individual characteristics of the person and his state of health. In the presence of other chronic diseases, alcoholic hepatosis develops many times faster. If the alcoholic has excellent health (which is rare), changes in the liver at the cellular level can begin after decades of regular abuse and hard drinking.
For an ordinary man weighing about 80 kg, once a week it is enough to drink 200-300 ml of a forty-degree drink (both in cocktails and in beer or wine equivalent) for about ten years. On average, this will be enough for the development of alcoholic fatty liver hepatosis. In addition to him, with a high degree of probability, such a man will be diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, cholecystitis and pathologies of the cardiovascular system.
For a woman who regularly abuses alcoholic beverages, for the development of alcoholic hepatosis, only 200 ml of a forty-degree drink per week for about ten years is enough.
What drinks does the disease develop from?
It makes absolutely no difference which drink the alcoholic prefers. The mechanism of action on the body of all of them is the same, whether it is beer, wine, vodka, cognac, cocktails, tequila or other exotic expensive drinks.
Of course, high-quality alcohol has a higher degree of purification. When abused, the effect on the body will be approximately the same. The toxic effects of ethanol on the liver, central nervous system, blood vessels, and organs of the gastrointestinal tract will always be the same.
At what stage of alcoholism does hepatosis develop
Narcology distinguishes three stages of the development of alcoholic disease. Depending on how far the addiction has gone, the outcome of treatment for alcoholic hepatosis will differ:
- In the first stage, ethanol has not yet been integrated into the metabolism. In each case, it causes severe poisoning of the whole organism. At the end of the first stage of alcoholism, as a rule, fatty degeneration of liver cells begins. It still does not cause any inconvenience, and even an MRI image does not make it out. If the patient stops drinking at this stage, the liver is regenerated to a healthy state in about a year of complete sobriety and proper nutrition. Provided that there will be no load in the form of drugs and chemotherapy.
- In the second stage, the patient begins mini-binges. Ethanol is gradually incorporated into the metabolism. The liver is already enlarged, other diseases of the internal organs (pancreatitis, gastritis, erosion of the esophagus and gastric mucosa, cholecystitis) are developing. In the middle of the second stage of alcoholism , 80% of alcoholics are diagnosed with alcoholic hepatosis. In some cases, cirrhotic disease may already begin. Do not give up: if you go into complete sobriety, puncture the course of hepatoprotectors and change your diet, then it is still possible to restore the liver. It will take several years, but the path to recovery still exists.
- In the third stage of alcoholism, as a rule, irreversible changes in the work of internal organs develop. Cirrhosis progresses, and this is an incurable liver disease, which in one way or another will lead to death.
Stages of development of toxic hepatosis
Medicine distinguishes several stages of the development of the disease:
- Zero - a small number of fat cells, the patient feels good, and nothing overshadows his condition.
- First, the number of affected liver cells is increasing rapidly.
- The second - adipose and connective tissue grows, the patient suffers from digestive disorders, pain in the right hypochondrium, weakness and asthenia.
- The third - adipose and connective tissue almost completely replace healthy cells.
Symptoms of Alcoholic Hepatosis
The main reason for the onset of the disease is the frequent abuse of alcoholic beverages, especially while taking medications. If there is no such habit, then you should not look for symptoms of alcoholic liver hepatosis in yourself.
Try to feel your right hypochondrium with your fingers. If the liver is greatly enlarged, even a person without a medical education can feel it. Do not press heavily on the abdominal cavity - superficial palpation is enough. If the liver is palpable, it is safe to talk about the presence of a second stage of alcoholic hepatosis.
If you have the following symptoms, you should also worry:
- strong bitterness in the mouth in the morning;
- nausea after eating fatty foods;
- digestive upset - persistent diarrhea;
- feces brightens;
- weakness, asthenia, lack of vitality.
What will happen if you do not treat and continue to drink
The main danger of alcoholic hepatosis - over time, it inevitably leads to the development of cirrhotic disease. And this is an incurable disease, which leads to a slow extinction of the patient.
Therefore, it is important to recognize hepatosis in the early stages and make every possible effort in order to restore the liver to its previous functionality. The main condition for this is a refusal to drink alcohol and a sober lifestyle.
Therapeutic treatments
The main method of therapy is strict adherence to therapeutic diet No. 5. Without proper nutrition and refusal of alcoholic beverages and drugs, it makes no sense to spend money on expensive drugs. You can’t break the diet - every food breakdown can aggravate the condition of the patient.
Treatment of alcoholic liver hepatosis most often requires the use of special medications that repair damaged liver cells. They are called hepatoprotectors.
Also, hepatologists often prescribe B vitamins, focusing on taking riboflavin. These vitamins not only heal the liver, but also restore the tone of the immune system and restore the functioning of the central nervous system after alcohol intoxication.
Hepatoprotective efficacy
Laboratory studies have proven that heptral, administered intravenously, is most effective for hepatoses of various etiologies. A course of ten droppers has a powerful effect on liver cells, preventing further degeneration of the organ.
Essential phospholipid preparations are also effective. These are Essential Forte and Essliver capsules. To achieve a therapeutic effect, these drugs should be taken for a long time, sometimes for years.
Preparations based on milk thistle and silymarin - "Karsil", "Silymanil" - also have hepatoprotective action, but much less than "Heptral" or "Essential Forte".
Reception "Ursosan" will be effective if alcoholic hepatosis is accompanied by a violation of the outflow of bile and chronic cholecystitis is present.
Is it possible to cure alcoholism?
You can spend a lot of money on the latest hepatoprotectors. But everything will be in vain, if you do not eradicate the main cause of the development of alcoholic hepatosis. While the patient is abusing ethanol-containing drinks, the disease cannot be cured. It will progress and sooner or later lead to cirrhosis.
It happens that alcoholics have excellent health. Hepatosis bypasses them, they feel great. Do not flatter yourself: in some cases, hepatosis develops rapidly. The liver is trying its best to function, but the patient himself voluntarily puts it into a precirrhous state.
Alcoholism is an incurable fatal disease that can progress for years. To date, there is no magic pill for this disease.
Only constant consultations with a narcologist and psychiatrist can help. Some patients are helped to remain sober by anonymous alcoholics. Some find themselves after sessions of psychotherapy. The main thing is not to let the problem of alcoholism drift and be aware of your condition.