Remind alcoholic liver patients: 4 abnormalities appear in the body, indicating that the condition has deteriorated, don't take it seriously
In life, many popular science contents about chronic liver disease have mentioned that liver disease is different from other diseases and is affected by the liver's self-compensation. Chronic liver disease basically has no obvious symptoms in the early stage. In the case of alcoholic liver disease, its clinical manifestations vary in severity, and patients may be asymptomatic or may die of complications.
So the question is, does alcoholic liver really fail? wrong!
Alcoholic liver does not specifically refer to a disease caused by alcohol damage, but a series of liver damage caused by alcohol damage. Initially, the patient may present with a fatty liver, when there are no symptoms. But after that, patients will develop serious problems such as hepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even cancer , so various symptoms will appear in the future.
For example, the following symptoms come to you, beware that the alcoholic liver has deteriorated:
1. Liver pain
This condition refers to spontaneous pain in the right quarter of the patient. The reason for this is that alcoholic liver has developed to the stage of inflammation, although there are no peripheral nerves in the lining of the liver.
However, there are numerous nerve distributions in the liver capsule, and these nerves are connected to the phrenic nerve . When a patient has acute inflammation, the liver will become congested and swollen, tissue fluid will seep out, and some liver cells may be necrotic. These factors will stimulate the capsule outside the liver , causing the liver capsule to be overstretched.
The tightened liver capsule will stimulate the nerves, causing the patient to experience persistent labor pain, dull pain, tenderness in the liver area, and even acupuncture-like and burning-like pain;
2. Digestive abnormalities
Usually, alcoholic liver disease has obvious symptoms, which basically occur after the patient has consumed a lot of alcohol. Alcohol is inherently irritating to the digestive tract, and as liver function continues to decline, so does the liver's own ability to produce bile.
Therefore, patients often experience symptoms such as decreased appetite, nausea and vomiting, and weight loss . The more severe the liver disease is, the more abnormal the digestive system will be. When alcoholic liver is combined with portal hypertension, the patient may also have upper gastrointestinal bleeding , manifested as hematemesis, black tarry stools , etc.;
3. Jaundice
Alcoholic liver disease is mainly characterized by jaundice and hepatomegaly, most of which are hepatocellular jaundice. Due to the damage and necrosis of a large number of liver cells caused by alcohol, it affects the ability of liver cells to normally uptake and convert bilirubin , resulting in a rapid increase in the concentration of bilirubin in the patient's blood , and then the development of hyperbilirubinemia.
As the disease progresses, the patient may have symptoms such as abnormal color of urine and stool, yellowing of the skin, sclera and mucous membranes of the whole body ;
4. Ascites
Nearly 10 to 70% of patients will be associated with ascites , which is clinically known as hepatic ascites, which mostly occurs in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. After the development of liver disease at this stage , problems such as portal hypertension, hypoalbuminemia, and water and sodium retention are often combined, and a large amount of fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity , eventually forming ascites.
From a clinical point of view , as long as the liver disease is combined with ascites, it often means that the liver disease has entered the decompensation stage. Without active treatment intervention, the prognosis is relatively poor.
All in all, alcoholic liver disease is not without symptoms. It's just that when symptoms appear, it often means that the patient's condition has reached a serious level, even to the stage of liver cirrhosis.
Therefore, for long-term alcoholics, it is necessary not only to observe physical changes, but also to seek medical attention regularly for targeted examinations and to quit drinking in time.