Causes and signs of liver cirrhosis in alcoholics

Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver is a disease where the structural cells of an organ are replaced by cells of connective tissue or adipose tissue due to long alcohol poisoning. The disease occurs in several stages: an acute form of alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease and necrosis, that is, the death of cells. Accordingly, the signs of liver cirrhosis in alcoholics at different stages are enhanced.

Why can the disease develop and progress?

The main cause of alcoholic cirrhosis is the long-term abuse of alcoholic beverages.

This is important! The rate of progression of the pathological process correlates with the frequency of drinking-bouts, the volume of drinks consumed and the strength of the drink. The rate of development of pathology can vary from several years to decades.

Alcohol adversely affects the liver due to the following factors:

• Cell death under the influence of alcohol occurs somewhat faster than the rate of their recovery. In this regard, the body has time to form scar tissue.
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• Lack of oxygen to the cells of the body, provoking their wrinkling and subsequent death.
• Increased production speed of connective tissue.
• Suppression of protein production in liver cells, which causes an increase in their size, that is, an increase in the volume of water in them. In turn, the liver also increases in size.

Risk factors for alcoholic cirrhosis

Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver most often occurs in the following situations:

• Drinking alcohol daily, which contains more than 40-60 g of ethanol, is pure alcohol.
• Drinking alcohol for many years - 15 years and longer.
• An hereditary predisposition to the development of a disease is usually transmitted from parents to their children.
• Malnutrition is a deficiency of proteins in the diet.

What signs indicate a progression of the disease?

Symptoms of alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver are characterized by the following features:

• In the first stages, the disease is usually micronodular, and histological diagnosis of liver samples diagnoses fatty hepatosis, infiltration and necrosis.
• Later, when the disease starts, a macronodular and mixed form of cirrhosis develops, which reduces the manifestation of fatty hepatosis.
• Signs of development of portal hypertension in alcoholic cirrhosis predominate when compared with signs of liver failure.
• Exacerbations of the disease are characterized by episodes of acute form of alcoholic hepatitis, whose seizures resume with prolonged use of alcohol.
• After the termination of drinking alcoholic beverages, the patient's condition improves significantly and remission occurs.
• Much earlier than in viral forms, symptoms of a deficiency in the body of proteins and vitamins develop.
• Systemic signs of alcohol poisoning - muscle atrophy, damage to the cardiovascular system, redness of the face and widening of the capillaries on the skin, especially in the nose zone, etc.

The classical form of alcoholic cirrhosis is small-nodular. In addition, it becomes impossible to determine the healthy structure and venules in the liver.

The formation of nodes often occurs very slowly because of the inhibitory effect of alcoholic beverages on the restoration of liver cells. A different volume of fat may be deposited in the body, and with cirrhosis, an acute form of alcoholic hepatitis may also appear. With long necrosis and fibrosis, consisting of tissue replacement, the symptoms of liver cirrhosis in alcoholics continue to increase. At the terminal stage of the disease, according to the histological examination, it becomes very difficult to confirm the alcoholic origin of cirrhosis.

Diagnosis of the effect of alcohol on the liver

Measures to detect alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver consist of a primary examination of the patient, a study of the history of his illness and complaints, the appointment of biochemical and general blood tests. If there is a suspicion of cirrhosis, the doctor prescribes an ultrasound examination, computed tomography and some other studies.

This is important! In case of confirmation of suspicion by the implemented methods, a liver biopsy is assigned to the patient - examination of a sample of organ tissue. It is important to remember that the results of laboratory diagnostics in cirrhosis are no different from hepatitis tests, and therefore, only the attending physician of the patient makes an accurate diagnosis.

Treatment for alcoholic lesions

Treatment of alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver must necessarily be comprehensive. The main direction of the therapeutic process involves the protection of hepatic cells from negative influences and the normalization of metabolic processes.

To reduce the influence of the body, the patient is assigned sorbents. To normalize the digestive process, provoked by inadequate intake of bile acids, the administration of drugs, in which these acids are present, is prescribed. In addition, the course of hepatoprotectors is prescribed - substances that favorably affect the liver.

The process of treating an alcoholic form of cirrhosis necessarily includes the organization of proper nutrition. This diet consists of eating lots of protein and carbohydrates. It is forbidden to eat legumes, sorrel, muffins, spicy dishes, spices, radish and radish, drink strong tea, what, coffee. It is strictly forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages.

In the most neglected stages, the only method that helps to achieve improvement is liver transplantation. The main condition for the transplant is six months before the operation of a complete refusal to drink alcohol.

Measures to prevent alcohol cirrhosis

Treatment and prevention in patients with alcoholic form of cirrhosis should begin with secondary prevention. The expert explains how to treat cirrhosis already at the first stages of its development.

Each person affected by this disease must comply with the following rules and regulations:

1. Observe protective measures to prevent liver damage by viral hepatitis. The defeat of the acute form of viral hepatitis B can cause a lethal outcome in 50 - 60% of cases already within one year of the onset of progression of the acute form of hepatitis B of viral origin.
2. It is required to completely refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages, regardless of their strength.
3. Thanks to hepatoprotectors it is possible to maintain the health of the organ, but they can be taken only after the appointment of a doctor.

Compliance with these rules helps to influence the increase in life expectancy of a person with alcoholic cirrhosis, even with a low-active or inactive course of pathology. Cirrhosis of the liver is almost always, namely - in 80% of cases, there is no manifestation of any symptomatology until the very last terminal stage.

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