Alcohol And Liver Disease

Introduction
The liver is an organ that takes the most abuse from alcohol consumption and is probably the most commonly thought of when discussing the harming effects of alcohol on your body.Drinking alcohol can lead to three types of liver conditions - fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis. For all types of liver disease caused by alcohol, the main treatment is to stop drinking alcoholcompletely.

What does the liver do?
The liver is in the upper right part of the abdomen. Its functions include:
* Storing glycogen, a chemical made from sugars. When required, glycogen is brokendown into glucose which is released into the bloodstream.
* Helping to process fats and proteins from digested food.
* Making proteins that are essential for blood to clot (clotting factors).* Processing many medicines which you may take.
* Helping to remove or process alcohol, poisons and toxins from the body.
* Making bile which passes from the liver to the gut and helps todigest fats.
What happens when you drink alcohol?
When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach and intestines. All blood from the stomach and intestines first goesthrough the liver before circulating around the whole body. So, the highest concentration of alcohol is in the blood flowing through the liver.

Liver cells contain enzymes (chemicals) which process(metabolise) alcohol. The enzymes break down alcohol into other chemicals which in turn are then broken down into water and carbon dioxide. These are then passed out in the urine and from the lungs. Theliver cells can process only a certain amount of alcohol per hour. So, if you drink alcohol faster than your liver can deal with it, the level of alcohol in your bloodstream rises.

What are theproblems of drinking too much alcohol?
* Serious liver problems (alcoholic liver disease).
* Some stomach disorders.
* Pancreatitis (severe inflammation of the pancreas).
* Mental...