Alcohol and health

PatrickO

PatrickO

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Some one I know has been told she has liver disease due to drinking. The thing that shocked me is that she is only in her late twenties and I don't think she is a total binge drinker. She's been told she need to drink much less and lose weight.

I knew heavy drinking increases risks of things like cancer and liver disease, but amazing that someone so young is affected.
 
It's tragic when someone so young has damaged herself in such away. I hope she listens to the advice and gets well soon.
 
It's "shock and awe" tactics. The same tactics that various anti-smoking lobbyists use to try to MAKE people stop smoking. She won't have liver disease to any measurable point, but anyone who drinks, even moderatly, will have their liver affected. People who say things like this should be slapped, hard! They're exaggerating what MAY be a problem in the future.
 
JayD said:
It's "shock and awe" tactics. The same tactics that various anti-smoking lobbyists use to try to MAKE people stop smoking. She won't have liver disease to any measurable point, but anyone who drinks, even moderatly, will have their liver affected. People who say things like this should be slapped, hard! They're exaggerating what MAY be a problem in the future.
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I'm reluctant to reply to this following on from your 'Is It Me?' thread, but I can't stop myself? How can you have any idea what the extent of her medical problem is! Are you a doctor who has seen her test results? I suspect not.

To the OP, I'm sorry to hear that your friend is unwell. Fortunately, things such as these are very manageable if we do the right thing. If your friend cuts down/out the drink then the body has a remarkable ability to recover, particularly at such a young age.

It's easy to think these things only afflict older people, but young people are still at risk of all sorts of problems, especially if they have the wrong lifestyle or have a particular predisposition to such problems.

Here's to wishing your friend a speedy and full recovery!
 
TriggerHappy said:
I'm reluctant to reply to this following on from your 'Is It Me?' thread, but I can't stop myself? How can you have any idea what the extent of her medical problem is! Are you a doctor who has seen her test results? I suspect not.

To the OP, I'm sorry to hear that your friend is unwell. Fortunately, things such as these are very manageable if we do the right thing. If your friend cuts down/out the drink then the body has a remarkable ability to recover, particularly at such a young age.

It's easy to think these things only afflict older people, but young people are still at risk of all sorts of problems, especially if they have the wrong lifestyle or have a particular predisposition to such problems.

Here's to wishing your friend a speedy and full recovery!
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No, but I have experience. Heart disease, and spent my 40th in hospital following a heart attack. I could live for two hours or two decades, even thougfh I have heart disease. I'm sorry she's unwell, but medical people do use shock tactics rather a lot.
 
She may well have had an underlying liver problem that the drinking has made worse. She doen't necessarily have to be a binge drinker neither. A bloke at work has been a heavy drinker for quite a few years, he wouldn't actually be falling down drunk, but drinking every day. At the age of around 35 his liver almost packed up, he ended up in hospital for months after almost dying and was off work for around 18 months.
 
JayD said:
No, but I have experience. Heart disease, and spent my 40th in hospital following a heart attack. I could live for two hours or two decades, even thougfh I have heart disease. I'm sorry she's unwell, but medical people do use shock tactics rather a lot.
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Unless you already had a heart defect from birth, a heart attack at 40 is shocking, I don't think it's medical people using shock tactics at all.
 
On the upside, the liver is the only organ with regenerative power. If the damage isn't sever, she stops drinking and improves her health, in a relatively short space of time she could have a perfectly healthy liver again.
 
viv1969 said:
On the upside, the liver is the only organ with regenerative power. If the damage isn't sever, she stops drinking and improves her health, in a relatively short space of time she could have a perfectly healthy liver again.
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This.

Persistent drinking is what causes liver damage as it has no time to recover. If you drink for 3 days straight, then take two weeks off, for example, the liver will have begun its recovery.
 
JayD said:
No, but I have experience. Heart disease, and spent my 40th in hospital following a heart attack. I could live for two hours or two decades, even thougfh I have heart disease. I'm sorry she's unwell, but medical people do use shock tactics rather a lot.
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Is that a problem though, if it stops this young woman from continued (binge) drinking and prolongs her life, then i'd say well done to whoever gave her that advice :clap:

Same applies to the shock tactics used to stop people smoking (and yes i am an ex-smoker, 6 months clean so far ;))

How can either of these be a bad thing :shrug:
 
i work with a alcholic who i dont know how he is alive today he goes to asda every day and buys a box of wine ie the one's with taps

he has come in before wasted to the point he could hardly speak he got sent home
only reason he has a job is he has family and my parents who own the buisness have known him years and are good friends it is only time before he wont be here the way he drinks very sad

i have also picked up many drunks off the streets and in night clubs when working the doors i dont know how they can end up in such a state is beyond me
a slight of topic

one example that annoys the crap out of me is people whi suffer from epilecy they still persist on going into night clubs and then have ceasures in the middle of the club it is then the doorstaff to deal and sort them out aswell as paramedic's

im a big beliver in if they do this on purpose bill them same with alcholic's

if you are geuinely ill then not to pay
 
nilagin said:
Unless you already had a heart defect from birth, a heart attack at 40 is shocking, I don't think it's medical people using shock tactics at all.
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No, It was called being a truck driver for 15 years and existing on bacon sandwiches and chocolate. When I had my illness I was 26 stone. I'm a more healthy 18 now. I still keep getting told "your weight will kill you", I'm fitter now than when I was 18. It'll probably be my sarcasm and mental health issues that will kill me. :D:D:D
 
JayD said:
It's "shock and awe" tactics. The same tactics that various anti-smoking lobbyists use to try to MAKE people stop smoking. She won't have liver disease to any measurable point, but anyone who drinks, even moderatly, will have their liver affected. People who say things like this should be slapped, hard! They're exaggerating what MAY be a problem in the future.
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You do not Know that...:shake:

A moderate but consistent drinker can damage their liver to the extent their life is in danger. Women are more at danger of this than men.
It is not a good idea to suggest to them that doctors lie about it.
Liver function tests and scans are very accurate.
However Livers can repair themselves to some extent, and the prognosis can improve. But continuing to drink is stupidity, when you have had this warning.
 
A few years ago, the father of a friend after having had a minor heart attack thought he could eat as many cream cakes as he wanted as he now had "pills for that",he's now dead.
Also, another friend of mine had been tying to give up smoking for years, he's been off them now for about 4 years after the doctor said if he didn't, within a year he'd have an oxygen cylinder to keep him company.
Shock tactics need to be used with some people, the others just die.
 
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JayD said:
No, It was called being a truck driver for 15 years and existing on bacon sandwiches and chocolate. When I had my illness I was 26 stone. I'm a more healthy 18 now. I still keep getting told "your weight will kill you", I'm fitter now than when I was 18. It'll probably be my sarcasm and mental health issues that will kill me. :D:D:D
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You may well be in the region of 7' tall or it's all muscle for all we know. If not you are still overweight, you are still putting your weakened heart under uneccessary strain.

Some people need shock tactics to see the light of day. A work colleague had a heart attack just over 3 years ago at the age of 47. He wasn't grossly overweight, just pot bellied and moobs, he doesn't smoke and rarely drinks, but he had a really crap diet. After his heart attack, he ate healthily, did a little exercise and lost most of his excessive weight. Now he is back to his poor diet, the pot belly and moobs are back, plus he's had a few chest pain scares, he has to take a large amount of pills a day and is probably all that is warding off another heart attack, yet he won't take notice of any warnings.
 
nilagin said:
You may well be in the region of 7' tall or it's all muscle for all we know. If not you are still overweight, you are still putting your weakened heart under uneccessary strain.

Some people need shock tactics to see the light of day. A work colleague had a heart attack just over 3 years ago at the age of 47. He wasn't grossly overweight, just pot bellied and moobs, he doesn't smoke and rarely drinks, but he had a really crap diet. After his heart attack, he ate healthily, did a little exercise and lost most of his excessive weight. Now he is back to his poor diet, the pot belly and moobs are back, plus he's had a few chest pain scares, he has to take a large amount of pills a day and is probably all that is warding off another heart attack, yet he won't take notice of any warnings.
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We all slip occasionally. I know I do. Especially at Xmas, birthdays etc, but I do some walking now, and I've learnt to love veg. I will have irregular beats and problems all my life, and I'm on pills the rest of my life. The only vice I have is the occasional roll-up. Even my Doctor told me that the occasional rollie isn't as bad as fried food. Shop bought fags are a different matter entirely.
 
So far in this thread people have mentioned the physical effects - I concur that the human body is very resilient, and that the liver can to a large extent recover, but what has been neglected is the fact that if she's damaged her liver, she's been hitting the hooch hard - she has a simple choice, accept the fact that she's had a "warning", and if she's sensible and gives it up for good there's every chance she'll live to a ripe old age - if she's damaged herself with booze, there's every chance she'll do it again, so it may be best to go for complete abstention from now on.
"Bout drinkers" are the hardest to cure, so I hope she has the good sense to heed the warnings - I lost a cousin to booze in her early 40's -she would have long periods of sobriety, then "hit it" bigtime, eventually it killed her.......
 
My wife and i are watching a friend dieing of liver failure due to a combination of alchol abuse when he was younger and a fatty liver ,haven`t drunk much this xmas
 
I drank way too much in my twenties and watched a few people "turn yellow" and disappear which wasn't pleasant
 
I think the younger generation of today will suffer horrendously from alcohol related illnesses. When I was at Uni, most people I knew or lived with in my halls would be slaughtered 3-4 nights a week, and now I see it at work. Sad way to spend your youth in my opinion
 
neil_g said:
depends who you listen to but in moderation alcohol can apparently be better for you than being tea total..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12531837 (to quote one article)

that said, if the OP's friend had a liver issue already then if the doc has advised no alcohol then its worth following that advice.
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Interesting article there, it's one that had passed me by. The beneficial quantity seems to be up to a maximum of 1.5 units (more specifically 14.5g of alcohol, where 1 unit equals 8g of pure alcohol) which isn't even a small glass of your typical wine.

The problem with so many things is that they help one thing and damage somewhere else, which is what we see with alcohol. Small amounts create relatively little additional risk, and even offers some benefits, but it doesn't take much of an increase in your consumption to tip you over the limit and expose you to all sorts of new problems.
 
It is still very uncommon to develop liver disease at such a young age but it is a hell of a lot more common nowadays than before. It is thought that the young age that many are starting to drink large amounts of alcohol is a big factor in the reducing age of onset. I have spoken to many adults in their early 30's with liver disease who started drinking regularly from the age of 12/13. Although the liver is capable of some recovery the hardest task is getting off the alcohol and staying off it.

With regard to heart problems - Again there is a reducing age and only a decade ago 40 was a very young age to have an MI (heart attack). I recently have dealt with many people who have had an MI in their 30's and my youngest went into full cardiac arrest and was only 26 (none of them were hugely obese btw, perhaps a little overweight...). Smoking is still considered by those in coronary care to be the primary risk factor, far and above all other factors.

Personally I think a lot of it is down to genetics, you may be predisposed to certain health problems. Ask your family and if there are more than one close member (mum, dad, grandparents, sibling) on a lineage with heart disease/diabetes/MI then there is a much, much greater chance you will have the same problem - the age of onset is often remarkably similar too.
 
JayD said:
No, It was called being a truck driver for 15 years and existing on bacon sandwiches and chocolate. When I had my illness I was 26 stone. I'm a more healthy 18 now. I still keep getting told "your weight will kill you", I'm fitter now than when I was 18. It'll probably be my sarcasm and mental health issues that will kill me. :D:D:D
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your choice to eat what you did ,dont blame it on being a truck driver
 
JayD said:
Yeah, on the road its so easy to find a salad isn't it without paying ten quid a time at a services?
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Take it with you! Not that hard to buy several at a supermarket.
 
JayD said:
It's "shock and awe" tactics. The same tactics that various anti-smoking lobbyists use to try to MAKE people stop smoking. She won't have liver disease to any measurable point, but anyone who drinks, even moderatly, will have their liver affected. People who say things like this should be slapped, hard! They're exaggerating what MAY be a problem in the future.
Click to expand...

What an incredibly stupid and irresponsible comment to make. Unless you know the woman's history, have a copy of her bloods and are looking at the ultrasound results, how on earth do you know what state her liver is in?

There's only one person that needs slapping here and it isn't the doctor.
 
JayD said:
Lmao, when you're big enough!
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You're the one that mentioned physical violence. I'm merely suggesting that you are irresponsible and dangerous in your advice.

Ruin your own life, not someone else's.

I won't be taking you up on your offer by the way.
 
Back when I was thirty I started to feel unwell and went to my doctor who ordered some blood tests.

When I went back to get the results he said the tests showed I had liver damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption and that I needed to stop drinking.

The thing was though I didn't drink
 
Keith W said:
Back when I was thirty I started to feel unwell and went to my doctor who ordered some blood tests.

When I went back to get the results he said the tests showed I had liver damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption and that I needed to stop drinking.

The thing was though I didn't drink
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did you find out what was the cause in the end?
I think you'll always have rare cases of misdiagnosis and people who have drunk, smoked or eaten to the extremes and still be fairly healthy, but statistically those individuals are anomalies and the damaging effects of smoking and drinking are well proven for the threat to be taken seriously
 
I did eventually but it was a bit of an uphill struggle and something which shouldn't have really happened and which eventually led to me leaving the practice, making a complaint and getting both a verbal and written apology.

The first thing was getting the doctor to believe that I didn't drink, he at one point called me a liar and said he didn't believe me.

The long and sort of it was that I had been prescribed some pills for a condition I had which turned out to have a rare side effect that affected the liver

Rare side effect or not it should have been picked up on but wasn't
 
I was told by my doctor to quit drinking or I would of been dead in 2 years as I was on a litre or more of vodka and about 15-20 pints a day at that time. I decided to stop and never touched a drop for over 3 years from that day. Now I can have a drink whenever I feel like it, which is very rarely nowadays, and not have any worries about going back to it. I get quite tipsy on 3 pints now and that's at a push.

I've now got Non Alchoholic Fatty Liver Disease and I'm on tablets for it and the specialist who gave me them advised me to drink a glass of wine a day. Jeez, you just can't win.
 
The thing is everyone is an individual, some people will be able to drink to excess with very few side effects however some people may develop health problems consuming moderate amounts, same can be said for tobacco. No one knows whats round the corner health wise.
 
Make sure she gets a second opinion. I spent 5 years trying to heal a fatty liver I never had because the consultant mixed up his files.
 
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