The liver, located in the upper-right side of your abdominal cavity, is one of the largest organs in your body. Vital functions served by your liver include the storage of nearly 13 percent of your blood supply at any time, cleansing your blood of toxins and fighting infections to maintain the health of your immune system. The liver is also involved in digestive processes like converting glucose into stored glycogen, producing cholesterol to carry fat through the body and producing bile to carry waste product out of your body. Your liver is highly resilient, but the heavy use of alcohol can damage this organ beyond repair.
Liver and Alcohol Metabolism
Alcohol is metabolized, or broken down, by your liver. During the metabolic process a naturally occurring enzyme in your body, called alcohol dehydrogenase, ADH, converts the ingested alcohol into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. An additional enzyme in your body called aldehyde dehydrogenase, ALDH, then converts the acetaldehyde to acetate. The acetate is a nontoxic chemical significant for normal digestive metabolism. The primary function of ADH and ALDH is to metabolize vitamin A. However, chronic and/or heavy use of alcohol alters this metabolic process, preventing ALDH from rapidly oxidizing the ADH into nontoxic acetate, resulting in liver damage.
Alcohol, Cytokine Levels and Liver Cell Death
Endotoxins are bacterial compounds that initially form a semi-permeable membrane to protect preexisting bacteria in your intestines. Excess alcohol consumption increases the passage of harmful endotoxins in your bloodstream toward the liver. Once endotoxins reach your liver, special cells that protect the blood from infection fight the endotoxins by release cytokines. Cytokines normally act as mediators in generating an immune system response. However, alcohol stimulates an excess release of cytokines, resulting in scar formation, which depletes your liver cells of oxygen. Continued cell damage from alcohol use ultimately causes liver cell death in a continuous cycle of your body trying to protect itself, yet releasing too many damaging cytokines.
Forms of Alcohol Induced Liver Disease
The constant metabolic battle between your liver and alcohol eventually depletes the possibility for regeneration of your liver. Fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis are the primary forms of alcohol-induced liver disease. Symptoms in each disease vary from inflammation, hypertension and a swollen abdomen to confusion or other organ failure. Continued use of alcohol through the beginning stages of liver disease results in the ultimate failure of your liver, which typically culminates in cirrhosis. Once diagnosed with fatty liver, you can make changes in your lifestyle and dietary habits in order to regenerate your liver's health. The most significant change you can make is abstaining from all alcohol use. The treatment for alcohol induced liver failure ranges from medications to manage the pain to liver transplantation.
Healthy Use of Alcohol
Not all use of alcohol results in liver damage. You can actually drink alcohol in moderation to reduce your risk of certain health disorders, but only if you do not have a drinking problem or liver disease already. Moderate alcohol consumption can reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke. Moderate alcohol use is defined as no more than seven drinks per week for women and no more than 14 drinks for adult men under 65 years old. This averages out to one or two drinks per day. The parameters for one drink include 12 oz. of beer, 5 oz. of wine or 1.5 oz. of 80-proof distilled spirits.
References
- Alcohol Health and Research World: Exploring Alcohol's Effects on Liver Function
- Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford: How the Liver Works
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Liver Disease
- MayoClinic.com: Alcohol Use; If You Drink, Keep it Moderate
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Cirrhosis
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol and the Liver
