Hundred percent: Watch out for cirrhosis!

Continuous alcoholism causes your liver to be devastated silently until it detects cirrhosis late! Dr. Dao Thi Yen Phi, Ho Chi Minh City Medical Training & Rehabilitation Center, said:

Some people say that the more you drink, the more . young, because life is always fun?(Photo: ttvnol) - Think of the liver as a multipurpose plant of the body. A person can live without a gut, part of the stomach, a kidney, a few ribs or cut a lung but no one can live without a liver.

If toxins are introduced inadvertently, they are not responsible, but some people daily diligently load large amounts of toxins that affect the liver.

* Some people say that the more you drink, the more . young, because life is always fun?

- The amount of nutritionists recommend is to use a glass of red wine every day (60-150ml) to protect the heart and prolong the life (maximum 250ml).

Alcohol from alcohol is only metabolized through the liver before being excreted by the kidneys. If the amount of alcohol put into the body is less, less than 150ml of ethanol per day (about 1.5 'built up' cups) - that is the maximum amount - and if taken slowly in the body (drink slowly) The liver can be easily acquired, metabolized and excreted without affecting the function of the liver.

When drinking alcohol on this quantity in a short time, go on . 100% . the alcohol content in the blood will increase rapidly, forcing the liver to 'run' at full speed to reduce the concentration. Blood alcohol drops below the allowable level as quickly as possible. If the liver is overactive from day to day, it will quickly deteriorate.

* So when does the alcohol function decrease?

Dr. Dao Thi Yen Phi (Photo: TTO)

- This is very difficult to answer because depending on the genetic nature of each person, the amount of alcohol to drink every day, how to drink, when to eat or not, have liver disease, use drugs affected to the liver, whether or not it is exposed to certain toxins in the environment that affect the liver ., diet, exercise, work, medicine .

In the early stages of liver failure, it is not possible to recognize because there are no symptoms. The liver has a surprising ability to compensate. Sometimes the number of liver cells has been damaged by nearly 50% but the remaining liver cells still have the ability to increase activity to ensure normal function of the liver.

When you see symptoms like ascites, jaundice, alopecia, anemia . your liver has been damaged 80-90%, which is end-stage liver failure and there is no way to save the liver more. That's why we need to keep the liver while still healthy, and to have 50% damage and want to save it, sometimes it's late.

In addition to alcohol, which is the cause of cirrhosis that can be completely avoided, there are still a number of reasons for being unfortunate, due to inadvertently that we cannot avoid (as in patients with hepatitis, toxicity, metabolic disorders congenital . of course, these people are strictly prohibited from alcohol.

* What are the signs of cirrhosis?

- Eating indigestion, bloating, or bruises on the skin, easily infected, bleeding, feeling pain, tightness in the right flank. However, these symptoms are not always present - it can happen silently until decompensated cirrhosis. When you see some of the above symptoms, you should go to the internal department of the general hospital to be examined and monitored.

* How long is it from cirrhosis to death?

- When cirrhosis is present, the only treatment is liver transplantation. Cirrhosis is divided into several stages, in the early stages of the liver there is still the ability to work and the progression time of cirrhosis depends on the factors of eating and living . analyzed as above. When in the stage of complete cirrhosis, the patient's life time is calculated only in months.

* How to detect liver damage early?

- In countries where people have regular health checkups every six months and in the health checkup, there is always a test of liver function, so they will detect early signs when the liver starts reduced function without expression.

In Vietnam, it is difficult for them to be eligible for testing every six months, so it is necessary to have a regular health check every year to find out about liver dysfunction and causes that can affect liver function.

When detected, there will be intervention with diet, activities, drugs . to protect the liver for as long as possible. However, these regimens are not synonymous with helping you regain a healthy liver as in the beginning. In short, your liver is very precious, protect it to live to the old!

KIM SON performs