Overview
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. It’s a sign of infection or injury to the tissues. Several things can cause hepatitis, including viruses and toxins. Heavy alcohol use is also one of them. Acute alcohol-induced hepatitis (formerly known as alcoholic hepatitis) might only be a temporary response to overindulgence. But when alcohol-induced hepatitis becomes a chronic condition, it threatens to do permanent damage to your liver.
How can alcohol use cause hepatitis?
Every food and drink you consume passes through your liver for processing. Your liver helps metabolize nutrients and filter out toxins. When alcohol goes to your liver for processing, it acts as a toxin. It offers no nutritional value and instead breaks down into poisonous chemicals.
Chronic, heavy alcohol use, or alcohol use disorder, can overload your liver with fat and toxins to process. When your liver can no longer keep up, these toxins and fat build up and begin to injure the liver. The injury produces an inflammatory response. This is your body’s way of attempting to heal and ward off further injury.
Like a fever, inflammation is supposed to be a temporary intervention. But when the assault is constant, the inflammation becomes constant. In the liver, this means swelling with fluid. If the swelling is severe and persistent, over time it will damage the tissues, causing cell death.
Who can get alcohol-induced hepatitis (formerly known as alcoholic hepatitis)?
You’re more at risk if you use alcohol heavily over many years. But not everyone who gets alcohol-induced hepatitis fits this profile. Some people are more sensitive to alcohol, and their livers react to even moderate use. Others may be able to drink more without inducing hepatitis.
Genetic differences may partially explain this. You may be more at risk if you have a family history of alcohol use disorder or liver disease. Sex differences also play a part. In general, people who were assigned male at birth (AMAB) can tolerate more alcohol than those who were assigned female at birth (AFAB).
However, everyone is different, and medically we can’t say what a “safe” amount of alcohol is. Some people develop alcohol-associated hepatitis and cirrhosis from seemingly insignificant quantities of alcohol.
Symptoms
When to see a doctor
Complications
- High blood pressure.
- Diabetes.
- Heart failure.
- Some types of heart valve disease.
Prevention
- Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
- Don't smoke or use tobacco.
- Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
- Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Reduce and manage stress.
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