Alcohol effects on the liver

Most people are aware that excessive consumption of alcohol is very dangerous for an individual.   Alcohol consumption can have a whole array of effects on your whole body.  Your liver however, is one of the organs it affects the most negatively.  Alcohol is considered a toxin to the liver.  It is important to note that males and females break down alcohol in different ways in part. Men have a higher concentration of dehydrogenase, an enzyme that helps o break down alcohol.  So women are genetically more prone to experiencing the harmful effects of alcohol.  Cirrhosis of the liver is the scaring of the liver tissue, and it is a pretty easy concept to understand.  When you get a cut on your skin, your body regenerates cells and often forms some sort of scare tissue.  Your liver works very much the same way.  When cells are damaged or die the liver attempts to regenerate them.  This is what causes the scaring of the liver also known as cirrhosis.  Just like a scare on your body, the scars to the liver may fade. 

If the excessive alcohol use is relatively short term, the liver can reverse almost all damage.  However, if the damage to the liver is long term, effects may not be reversible.  It is very important your liver is kept healthy, it is involved in almost 500 hundred functions in the body.  This includes anything from cleansing you body of toxins, to helping regulate your immune system.  Most humans can actually live a normal healthy life with only 10 percent of there liver. However this is dangerous in some ways because a person may not see any signs of harm until the majority of there liver is destroyed.  With similar diseases to the liver like Fatty Liver Disease, the person can experience an almost endless spell of related side effects.

  This includes things like feeling bloated, low energy, and even pain in your back and shoulders.  Most medical experts say that moderate alcohol consumption is perfectly fine for your liver.  This is usually considered around 10-12 drinks a week, spread out through out.  Allowing your body time to process the alcohol is very important.  For example, 10 drinks a week may not be harmful, but 10 drinks within a few hours will have increasing harmful effects.  This is because your body is not allowed sufficient time to break the chemical down.  Also staying hydrated and having food in your stomach helps with breaking down the alcohol.  Maybe not so surprisingly, up to 55% of heavy drinkers have some form of cirrhosis of the liver.  In females specifically, it is even more than that.  This can have a compounding effect once it does develop because it makes the liver more and more ineffective.  Meaning there is less and less amount of good tissue to try and break down the toxins.  So a person may continue to drink the same amount of alcohol, but actually be damaging the liver more and more severely each time.