For those who are good drinkers, can the liver recover after quitting drinking? There are 4 changes in the body, or the liver is 'calling for help'
What happens to an ordinary person's body if he suddenly drinks too much? Can quitting drinking restore health?
To explore this question, Daryle Knight, a 31-year-old British man, experimented with his own body. At first, he drank alcohol for a month, and his skin began to appear chapped; later he increased to 83 kilograms, which is far overweight .
After a month of binge drinking, Daryle started quitting drinking, intending to abstain from drinking for the next month.
Daryle rejected all New Year's Day parties. In order to avoid the temptation of alcohol, when he wanted to drink, he would also replace it with water and juice .
At first Daryle felt that quitting alcohol was nothing more than that, and it was not difficult, but soon he encountered the test. Once at a party, there were voices persuading him to drink alcohol. In order not to let his "will" be shaken, he left the party early.
Daryle started spending more time going to the gym, which he felt was the only public place where everyone only drank water and not alcohol. In addition, he tries to maintain a healthy diet and get enough sleep .
A month later, Daryle's belly became firmer, his waistline shrunk, his weight was under control, and his sleep and diet improved. Daryle said that although not drinking alcohol for a month is a very strong test of his willpower , but after doing it, he does feel the changes in his body.
The picture on the left is a photo of the man during his drinking period. The picture on the right is a photo of the man after he quit drinking. Source: People's Daily Online
1. Why do Europeans and Americans love to drink alcohol, but there are fewer liver cancer patients than China?
According to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 33,000 Americans will suffer from liver cancer in 2020, while 410,000 people in China are diagnosed with liver cancer a year. Compared with China and the United States, the incidence of liver cancer in the United States is only 1/3 of China.
We all know that the occurrence of liver cancer has a certain relationship with alcohol consumption.
In a large global study from the National Cancer Research Institute in The Lancet Oncology, it was estimated that in 2020, about 740,000 new cancers worldwide were caused by alcohol consumption, of which 154,700 were liver cancer .
After drinking alcohol, 90% of people need to be metabolized by the liver, and the acetaldehyde produced during the metabolism will cause direct toxicity to the liver, and the damage is irreversible. If the patient itself has hepatitis B and C, combined with alcohol injury, it will cause strong stimulation to inflammation, which will increase the risk of liver cancer.
According to a study published in The Lancet, which analyzed the trend of alcohol intake in 189 countries from 1990 to 2017, it found that the per capita alcohol consumption in the United States was 9.8L, while the per capita alcohol consumption in China was 7.4 liters, why do Americans drink more alcohol, but there are fewer liver cancer patients than Chinese people?
In fact, the reasons are very realistic, mainly for the following two points:
① China's hepatitis B infection rate is high
According to the China Primary Liver Cancer Clinical Registration Survey (CLCS) 2020 interim report, 83.77% of Chinese liver cancer patients have a history of hepatitis B virus infection. In China, there are as many as 7-97 million people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection!
② Chinese people who drink alcohol are more likely to get cancer
A study published in The Lancet pointed to a key genetic variation in alcohol metabolism in the Chinese , leading to a decline in metabolic capacity.
In addition, a study published in "Nature" found that people with defects in the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene are more susceptible to alcohol damage and have a higher risk of cancer than people without the defect.
Unfortunately, about 1/3 of the Chinese are looking for mutations in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which prevent the body from effectively degrading acetaldehyde. In other words, Chinese people who drink alcohol are more likely to develop cancer.
2. There are 4 kinds of changes in the body, it may be that the liver is calling for help
The liver has a strong compensatory ability, and even if it is injured, it can still "suffocate" and continue to work. Once the liver has obvious symptoms, it is likely that it cannot return to normal. So what if the liver is detected early?
1. Fatigue
When the liver is damaged, it will consume the protein and vitamins in the body for self-repair. In addition, the digestive function is weakened at this time, and the body's nutritional needs cannot be supplied in time, resulting in fatigue and lack of energy.
2. Long-term abdominal distension
Abdominal distension is mostly related to indigestion, but it is also one of the common manifestations of alcoholic liver. Especially after drinking alcohol, if abdominal distension occurs for a long time, it is likely to be caused by alcoholic liver.
3. Abdominal pain
When alcoholic fatty liver disease occurs, it can cause liver cell necrosis and inflammation around the spleen, and the patient will experience persistent pain in the abdomen.
4, loss of appetite
Loss of appetite is also a common manifestation of liver disease. Generally, loss of appetite caused by alcoholic liver disease will be accompanied by symptoms such as nausea and vomiting after drinking, thus affecting the function of the gastrointestinal tract.
It should be noted that when the alcoholic liver develops to an advanced stage and liver ascites is formed, this loss of appetite will be more serious.
3. For people who drink well, can the liver recover after quitting drinking?
People who often drink too much may have the idea that "if you quit drinking, your liver will recover with it". Can the liver really return to normal as we think?
In fact, liver damage from excessive drinking is irreversible . The damage of alcohol to the liver is gradually accumulated. In the early stage, liver damage generally has no obvious symptoms. When the body has obvious discomfort, it means that the liver damage has been difficult to "self-repair" , and the probability of cure is greatly reduced.
Xu Qian, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of the Ministry of Health, once said: The liver is the first organ damaged after drinking alcohol. Even if you are not drunk, as long as you drink excessively for a long time, alcohol will "corrode" the liver a little bit, and eventually lead to cirrhosis and the liver will lose its function.
Is there any way to reduce the damage of alcohol to the liver?
1. Drink more water
Don't drink on an empty stomach. Drink more boiled water before drinking to accelerate the excretion of alcohol from the urine and help reduce the load on the liver.
2. Do not drink high alcohol
In the case of the same amount of alcohol consumption, high-alcohol alcohol is often more harmful to the liver than low-alcohol alcohol.
3. Take a sip
When drinking, don't "combine", and don't "dry" to appear bold. When drinking, try to slow down and take small sips.
Ingestion is not only easy to get drunk, but when a large amount of alcohol pours in at the same time, the damage to the respiratory tract, stomach and other organs is also greater .
Finally, I remind everyone that the so-called honey water, hangover medicine, and tea are not really able to hangover. Any alcohol needs to be metabolized and digested by the liver. Therefore, if you want to protect your body, please drink as little or no alcohol as possible.
References:
[1] "No sip of alcohol is innocent! "The Lancet Oncology": In 2020, drinking alcohol will cause 740,000 cases of cancer". Life Times. 2021-07-27
[2] "Over half of China's liver cancer patients died of hepatitis B, and it only takes two steps to "kill" it! 》. Medical Oncology Channel. 2021-07-28
[3] "5 signals suggest you: Alcoholic liver may be coming! Please stop drinking". Family Doctor Online. 2018-06-16
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