Alchol and liver problems? Medical scholars?

Question

Exactly what causes the liver of a heavy alcohol drinker to diminish in its capacity to metabolize alcohol over a lifetime of drinking?

Answer 1

Ethanol (alcohol you drink) is actually a toxin. Hepatocytes (the liver cells) are able to break down this product, but at the cost of oxydative stress to the cells. Increased production of NADH (nictotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrogenase) also results in increase lipid production in the hepatocytes, The result is that the hepatocytes themselves become replaces with fatty, inactive cells. If the drinking continues, or if enough of the hepatocytes are compromised, the liver loses the ability to regenerate, and scar tissue, in the form of fibrosis results, this is called cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis results in loss of liver function that deal with coagulation factors (resulting in anemia, prolonged bleeding and jaundice), decreased ammonia clearance (resulting in hepatic encephalopathy as the poision affects the brain function), portal hypertension (from the slowing of the circulatory venous supply) and ascities (also from increases in portal venous pressure). All these problems results in overall decreases in mobility, metabolism, healing and increases the strain on heart, lungs and spleen (portal hypertension) as well as neurologic problems from the ammonia levels being so high. Death from end-stage liver disease is usually a result of hepatic encephalopathy, or coagulopathy with gastrointestinal bleeding, both really ugly ways to go.

Answer 2

Same as its effect on the brain. It is a poison. It destroys normal and natural and necessary proteins in all parts of the body. Its first attack is the liver and then the brain, heart, etc.

Answer 3

Cirrhosis primarily is caused by alcohol, in essence, taking up all of the liver's time to process... such that it can't filter and regulate things like water, proteins, and other essential things that your body needs... Later on, like with anything that is overused in the body (ie. Pancreas with Insulin production, after eating too much sugars for too long... insulin secreting glands shut down ) The liver shuts down it's ability to make albumin, an essential (probably THE most essential protein in your body)... as a result all systems that use albumin begin to suffer...
Loss of liver function affects the body in many ways.

one is Edema and ascites. When the liver loses its ability to make the protein albumin, water accumulates in the legs (edema) and abdomen (ascites).

another is easy bruising and bleeding. When the liver slows or stops production of the proteins needed for blood clotting, a person will bruise or bleed easily. The palms of the hands may be reddish and blotchy with "palmar erythema."

Jaundice can present... because Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin and eyes that occurs when the diseased liver does not absorb enough bilirubin. (excess bilirubin is excreted from the body in a normal person... and it is billirubin that makes our excrement brown, in case you were wondering LOL)

Bile products deposited in the skin because they are not being filtered... this may cause intense itching.

Gallstones. If cirrhosis prevents bile from reaching the gallbladder, gallstones may develop.

Toxins in the blood or brain. A damaged liver cannot remove toxins from the blood, causing them to accumulate in the blood and eventually the brain. There, toxins can dull mental functioning and cause personality changes, coma, and even death. Signs of the buildup of toxins in the brain include neglect of personal appearance, unresponsiveness, forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, or changes in sleep habits. ( you can actually die from lead poisoning if you have severe cirrhosis!)

Sensitivity to medication. Cirrhosis slows the liver's ability to filter medications from the blood. Because the liver does not remove drugs from the blood at the usual rate, they act longer than expected and build up in the body. This causes a person to be more sensitive to medications and their side effects.

Portal hypertension. Normally, blood from the intestines and spleen is carried to the liver through the portal vein. But cirrhosis slows the normal flow of blood through the portal vein, which increases the pressure inside it. This condition is called portal hypertension.

Varices. When blood flow through the portal vein slows, blood from the intestines and spleen backs up into blood vessels in the stomach and esophagus. These blood vessels may become enlarged because they are not meant to carry this much blood. The enlarged blood vessels, called varices, have thin walls and carry high pressure, and thus are more likely to burst. If they do burst, the result is a serious bleeding problem in the upper stomach or esophagus that requires immediate medical attention.

Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Cirrhosis causes resistance to insulin. As stated before, this is closely related to the pancreas...insulin enables blood glucose to be used as energy by the cells of the body. If you have insulin resistance, your muscle, fat, and liver cells do not use insulin properly. The pancreas tries to keep up with the demand for insulin by producing more. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up with the body's need for insulin, and type 2 diabetes develops as excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream.

Liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer commonly caused by cirrhosis, starts in the liver tissue itself. It has a high mortality rate.

Problems in other organs. Cirrhosis can cause immune system dysfunction, leading to infection. Fluid in the abdomen (ascites) may become infected with bacteria normally present in the intestines. Cirrhosis can also lead to impotence, kidney dysfunction and failure, and osteoporosis.

Answer 4

the alcohol literally kills the liver cells, plugging them up with toxins so they no longer filter the blood and more toxins build up, the liver literally becomes hard as rock, eventully it fails to filter at all and the patient dies as a result of toxic poisoning.