The damage caused by cirrhosis is unfortunately irreversible. To determine if you have
Alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) is often first suspected when tests for other medical conditions show a damaged liver. This is because the condition causes few obvious symptoms in the early stages. If a doctor suspects ARLD, they'll usually arrange a blood test to check how well your liver is working.
It takes upwards of ten years for alcohol-related liver disease to progress from fatty liver through fibrosis to cirrhosis to acute on chronic liver failure. This process is silent and symptom free and can easily be missed in primary care, usually presenting with advanced cirrhosis.
Myth: I don't have any symptoms so there's no way I could have cirrhosis. Fact: It is possible to have cirrhosis of the liver and not know it. Many patients who have cirrhosis still have enough liver function to support their body's daily operations and have no symptoms.
Your doctor may perform a liver biopsy to see how much scarring in is your liver. A liver biopsy can diagnose cirrhosis when the results of other tests are uncertain. The biopsy may show the cause of cirrhosis.
Often, cirrhosis is first found through a routine blood test or checkup. To help confirm a diagnosis, a combination of laboratory and imaging tests is usually done.
Do all alcoholics get alcoholic hepatitis and eventually cirrhosis? No. Some alcoholics may suffer seriously from the many physical and psychological symptoms of alcoholism, but escape serious liver damage. Alcoholic cirrhosis is found among alcoholics about 10 to 25 percent of the time.
After drinking stops, damaged organs may regain partial function or even heal completely, depending on the extent of organ damage and whether there is relapse (i.e., resumption of drinking).
Heavy drinkers and alcoholics may progress from fatty liver to alcoholic hepatitis to cirrhosis, and it is estimated that 10 percent to 15 percent of alcoholics will develop cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis
Up to one in every five long-term heavy drinkers will develop alcohol-related liver cirrhosis. While cirrhosis is not reversible, there is good evidence that stopping drinking completely improves the outcome for some people.
If you do not have liver disease, an occasional alcoholic drink probably won't cause cirrhosis. However, heavy drinking (defined as having 8 or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more for men) is known to cause cirrhosis.
Depending on the cause, cirrhosis can develop over months or years. There is no cure. Treatment aims to halt liver damage, manage the symptoms and reduce the risk of complications, such as diabetes, osteoporosis (brittle bones), liver cancer and liver failure.
For alcohol-related cirrhosis to strike someone in their 20s or 30s, consumption has to be exceedingly high. Cirrhosis in young women tends to surprise both patients and doctors, says Dr. Jessica Mellinger, another hepatologist at the University of Michigan.
In general, however, the longer and more heavily one drinks, the more likely to ultimately develop liver damage. One study found that more than 30 grams of pure alcohol per day increases your risk of liver disease. [1] That works out to more than about two drinks per day.
Symptoms of alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD)
weight loss. loss of appetite. yellowing of the whites of the eyes or skin (jaundice) swelling in the ankles and tummy.
At 3 weeks of not drinking, most drinkers have successfully reduced their risk of heart disease, including stroke, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Their kidney health and even their vision may improve. For dependent drinkers, blood pressure may reduce to normal levels by the 3rd or 4th week.
For three months, alcoholics in recovery often report positive changes in their emotional state, career, finances, and personal relationships. These include but are not limited to: Feelings of depression and anxiety may subside. Critical thinking skills improve.
However, by day 4 without alcohol, most people will have got beyond any initial withdrawal symptoms. All the alcohol will have left your system by now, and your body will begin to bounce back. If you're not as focused on alcohol, you may be eating better, drinking water, moving more, and perhaps sleeping more deeply.
“Apart from alcohol consumption, several contributory factors, including diet, lifestyle, mental health, viral infection and gender, influence the risk of developing cirrhosis. There is also evidence that genes influence the development and progression of this disease,” Professor Day said.
The disease is common in people between 40 and 50 years of age. Men are more likely to have this problem. However, women may develop the disease after less exposure to alcohol than men.
Having 2 to 3 alcoholic drinks every day or binge drinking can harm your liver. Binge drinking is when you drink more than 4 or 5 drinks in a row. If you already have a liver disease, you should stop drinking alcohol. There is no safe amount of alcohol for people with any type of alcoholic liver disease.
Many people are not aware that they have cirrhosis, since they may not have signs or symptoms until their liver is badly damaged. A healthy liver (left) and liver with cirrhosis (right).
A liver blood test measures the levels of various things in your blood, like proteins, liver enzymes, and bilirubin. This can help check the health of your liver and for signs of inflammation or damage.
Ultrasound is routinely used during the evaluation of cirrhosis. In one prospective study of ultrasound in patients suspected of having cirrhosis who underwent liver biopsy, ultrasound had a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 94% for making the diagnosis.