The response to my blog; Should Alcoholics Get Liver Transplants, was overwhelming.  I’ve been posting for a little over a year and no other blog has generated a response as heavy as this one.  Because so many people were interested in the effect of alcohol on the liver, I decided to offer a brief expansion of the topic.

I think it is important to point out here that while I am a recovering alcoholic I am not anti-alcohol.  There are, though, some instances where abstinence is absolutely necessary.  Such is the case with liver disease.

According to the American Liver Foundation (ALF), (http://www.liverfoundation.org/education/info/alcohol/)

the liver breaks down alcohol so it can be eliminated from your body. If you consume more alcohol than the liver can process, the resulting imbalance can injure the liver by interfering with its normal breakdown of protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

The ALF says there are three kinds of liver disease related to alcohol consumption:

Fatty liver is marked by a build-up of fat cells in the liver. Usually there are no symptoms, although the liver may be enlarged and you may experience discomfort in your upper abdomen. Fatty liver occurs in almost all people who drink heavily. The condition will improve after you stop drinking.

Alcoholic hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Up to 35 percent of heavy drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis. Symptoms may include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and tenderness, fever and jaundice. In its mild form, alcoholic hepatitis can last for years and will cause progressive liver damage. The damage may be reversible if you stop drinking. In its severe form, the disease may occur suddenly, after binge drinking, and it can quickly lead to life-threatening complications.

Alcoholic cirrhosis is the most serious type of alcohol-induced liver disease. Cirrhosis refers to the replacement of normal liver tissue with scar tissue. Between 10 and 20 percent of heavy drinkers develop cirrhosis, usually after 10 or more years of drinking. Symptoms of cirrhosis are similar to those of alcoholic hepatitis. The damage from cirrhosis is not reversible, and it is a life-threatening disease. Your condition may stabilize if you stop drinking.

Many heavy drinkers will progress from fatty liver to alcoholic hepatitis and finally to alcoholic cirrhosis, though the progression may vary from patient to patient. The risk of developing cirrhosis is particularly high for people who drink heavily and have another chronic liver disease such as viral hepatitis C.

The ALF makes it very clear that if you have any liver disease you must stop drinking, period!   “Your doctor may suggest changes in your diet and certain vitamin supplements to help your liver recover from the alcohol-related damage. Medications may be needed to manage the complications caused by your liver damage. In advanced cases of alcoholic cirrhosis, the only treatment option may be a liver transplant. However, active alcoholics will usually not qualify as suitable organ recipients.”

Once people become aware of the dangers alcohol poses to the liver, the first question they ask is, “Can I drink at all?  Is there a safe level of drinking?”  Here’s ALF’s response:

“For most people, moderate drinking will not lead to alcohol-induced liver disease. Moderate drinking means no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. (A standard drink is one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine or one 1.5-ounce shot of distilled spirits.) However, for people with chronic liver disease, especially alcohol-induced liver disease, even small amounts of alcohol can make the liver disease worse. Patients with alcohol-induced liver disease and those with cirrhosis from any cause should stop using alcohol completely.

Women are more likely to be affected by alcohol-induced liver disease because women can be affected by smaller amounts of alcohol than men.”

Finally The American Liver Foundation says:  “Serious complications from alcohol-induced liver disease typically occur after many years of heavy drinking. Once they do occur, the complications can be serious and life-threatening. They may include:

·         Accumulation of fluid in the abdomen

·         Bleeding from veins in the esophagus

·         Enlarged spleen

·         High blood pressure in the liver

·         Changes in mental function, and coma

·         Kidney failure

·         Liver cancer”

The basic philosophy behind this blog is to advance organ donation but because there is such an organ shortage it is important, too, to protect our organs.  Steps can be taken to avoid needing an organ transplant.  Moderation of alcohol consumption is one of them.

Please comment here or email your comments to me at bob@baronson.org. 

Please read and comment on my World Wide Issues blogs on http://blogsbybob.wordpress.com.   Also…visit and join my Facebook site, Organ Transplant Patients, Friends and You at  http://tinyurl.com/225cfh  OR — my Facebook home page  http://www.facebook.com/home.php 

In the last Presidential debate Republican Candidate John McCain observed that cosmetic surgery and transplants are luxury health insurance items.  He indicated that people don’t need, “Gold plated, Cadillac insurance policies that cover cosmetic surgery and transplants and all of that.”  In other words, there is no real difference between removing an unsightly wrinkle and saving a life with a heart transplant.  A You Tube clip of the comment can be found at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snGr0JcS2xw&feature=related).    

I’m sure the hundred thousand people on the organ transplant waiting list along with their families and friends are buoyed by McCain’s commitment to them.   If he really believes that a wart and a diseased kidney should be treated the same then he is totally out of touch and living in a world far different from the one I know.  

About thirteen months ago I received a new heart at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida — the entire procedure was paid for by Medicare.  Will a President McCain change that?  Will a President McCain also change Medicare so that it no longer pays for life saving anti-rejection drugs, too?

Apparently the news media missed McCain’s comment but if you review the debate section on health care plans you’ll easily find it.  I don’t know of anyone who ever died because a wrinkle was not removed but I do know that thousands of people have died waiting for organ transplants. 

McCain’s comment is a clear indication of his total disconnect with the realities of today’s society.  Organ donation/transplantation is one of the most important issues facing us today and for it to be treated in such a cavalier fashion is reprehensible.