Hepatitis symptoms can get worse if you drink alcohol

Being diagnosed positive for Chronic Hepatitis C (HCV) is not an obstacle for you to go about your daily routine, neither is having fun to relieve stress. But watch out! Parties, weekly night out with friends, and any other moody situation that involves drinking can potentially lead to binge drinking, aka drinking too much alcohol in a short amount of time. The combination of excessive alcohol consumption and active HCV infection can worsen hepatitis symptoms and cause serious liver damage.

What is the effect of alcohol on liver function?

The liver has many important functions in the body, including aiding digestion, filtering toxins in the blood, and helping to fight infection and disease. The liver breaks down the alcohol molecules you drink so they can be drained clean from the body. Consuming too much alcohol can inhibit the work of the liver so that over time it causes damage or kills liver cells. As a result, there was fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis.

Consuming large amounts of alcohol, even for just a few days, can trigger a buildup of fat in the liver, which is called fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease causes almost no symptoms, but it is a sign that your alcohol consumption is at dangerous levels. The adverse effects of fatty liver and early-stage alcoholic hepatitis can be reversed if you stop drinking alcohol. However, the damage from alcoholic hepatitis and severe cirrhosis is permanent, and can lead to complications or even death.

Drinking alcohol can worsen the symptoms of hepatitis

Overall, alcohol consumption is a big risk for people with HCV infection. Doctors claim that daily alcohol consumption of more than 50 grams (about 3.5 glasses per day) increases the risk of hepatitis sufferers for severe fibrosis and cirrhosis, as well as worsening hepatitis symptoms such as the development of advanced liver damage. However, even small amounts of alcohol can increase your risk of liver damage and advanced liver disease.

Drinking alcohol can interfere with the effectiveness of hepatitis treatment

Interferon is a commonly prescribed hepatitis medication option aimed at reducing your risk of developing liver disease. However, excess alcohol intake will counteract the effects of interferon therapy. It should be noted that the side effects of interferon therapy itself have the potential to make hepatitis symptoms very difficult to treat, even in patients who do not consume alcohol.

In addition, complex treatment is difficult for the body of a person who is a heavy drinker to accept. Alcohol can also reduce the benefits of drugs against HCV. Avoiding alcohol is one step you can take to improve your long-term health if you have hepatitis C.

The development of cirrhosis as a result of drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of liver cancer in HCV patients

Large amounts of alcohol intake are clearly linked to cirrhosis, be it alcohol alone or in combination with HCV infection. Cirrhosis is advanced liver damage that has been shown to be a major risk factor for hepatoma, aka liver cancer. Therefore, alcohol is clearly linked to HCV in causing cirrhosis.

Given the adverse effects of alcohol on the development of hepatitis symptoms, people with HCV infection should refrain from drinking alcohol.

Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.