There are many ways by which alcohol abuse can affect our body and our health. Through heavy drinking for over an extended period of time, some of the most important organs and processes of our body are damaged beyond repair. The area that is most prone to irreparable damage is the liver. It functions to clean our body of toxins, and is thus crucial to our health. When alcohol damages the liver, this can lead to various health problems, and a lot of these problems have one endpoint: death. Educating young people regarding the risks of liver damage because of alcohol intake is essential.
The liver is responsible for processing the alcoholic beverages that you consume. A liver that is performing at optimum function can process around one ounce of liquor every hour. If you consume more than this, the liver becomes overworked and the body becomes saturated.
When the body has an oversupply of alcohol, the liquor that was not processed by the liver goes straight to the nervous system, specifically the brain, and this can cause behaviors that are usually associated with being drunk (loss of inhibitions, poor judgment, losing balance, and many others).
This can happen in a few hours, but if alcohol abuse becomes habitual, there will be bigger problems.
Heavy drinking for an extended period of time can cause the liver to become saturated with fat and swollen. Many problems in function and organ systems can be caused by a fat liver, mainly:
- Inadequate supply of blood. A fat liver can choke the blood vessels that carry blood that needed to be cleaned into the liver. This will hinder the blood from delivering nutrients and oxygen to the rest of the body.
- Liver cell death. Because there are no nutrients and oxygen, liver cells become sick and eventually die.
- Scar tissue formation. The liver cells, which have remained alive, will be replaced by scar tissue. In medical terms, this is commonly called as the cirrhosis of the liver.
When the liver has reached the final stage, cirrhosis, the liver cannot process alcohol anymore because there are no more live cells that can perform the function of filtering and metabolizing it.
What is the likelihood that you will get cirrhosis? This can be influenced highly by the genes you inherited from birth. If someone in the family has a history of liver problems, the symptoms of cirrhosis can manifest itself in a relatively short period of time; as little as a year if the individual consumes 3-4 drinks a day. On the other hand, there are some people who are still regular heavy drinkers but are not prone to cirrhosis.
The liver is a vital part of the processes of the human body. It is responsible for the blood that flows from the intestines to the heart. It stores glycogen, the currency of the body used to expend energy. It cleans the blood by breaking down toxins.
Cirrhosis not only affects the old, but the youth as well. It is important that teenagers are properly educated about the risks of binging on alcohol, so that in old age, they will not come to regret the decisions they made when they were still young.
The liver is responsible for processing the alcoholic beverages that you consume. A liver that is performing at optimum function can process around one ounce of liquor every hour. If you consume more than this, the liver becomes overworked and the body becomes saturated.
When the body has an oversupply of alcohol, the liquor that was not processed by the liver goes straight to the nervous system, specifically the brain, and this can cause behaviors that are usually associated with being drunk (loss of inhibitions, poor judgment, losing balance, and many others).
This can happen in a few hours, but if alcohol abuse becomes habitual, there will be bigger problems.
Heavy drinking for an extended period of time can cause the liver to become saturated with fat and swollen. Many problems in function and organ systems can be caused by a fat liver, mainly:
- Inadequate supply of blood. A fat liver can choke the blood vessels that carry blood that needed to be cleaned into the liver. This will hinder the blood from delivering nutrients and oxygen to the rest of the body.
- Liver cell death. Because there are no nutrients and oxygen, liver cells become sick and eventually die.
- Scar tissue formation. The liver cells, which have remained alive, will be replaced by scar tissue. In medical terms, this is commonly called as the cirrhosis of the liver.
When the liver has reached the final stage, cirrhosis, the liver cannot process alcohol anymore because there are no more live cells that can perform the function of filtering and metabolizing it.
What is the likelihood that you will get cirrhosis? This can be influenced highly by the genes you inherited from birth. If someone in the family has a history of liver problems, the symptoms of cirrhosis can manifest itself in a relatively short period of time; as little as a year if the individual consumes 3-4 drinks a day. On the other hand, there are some people who are still regular heavy drinkers but are not prone to cirrhosis.
The liver is a vital part of the processes of the human body. It is responsible for the blood that flows from the intestines to the heart. It stores glycogen, the currency of the body used to expend energy. It cleans the blood by breaking down toxins.
Cirrhosis not only affects the old, but the youth as well. It is important that teenagers are properly educated about the risks of binging on alcohol, so that in old age, they will not come to regret the decisions they made when they were still young.
No comments:
Post a Comment