Alcoholic Hepatitis - Symptoms and Treatments

What is Alcoholic Hepatitis?

When one consumes alcohol, it gets absorbed into the blood stream through the stomach and intestines. This blood in the intestines and stomach first goes to the liver, from where it gets circulated in the entire body. Prolonged and excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to alcoholic hepatitis, which is the inflammation of the liver. The excessive consumption leads to a build up of fats cells in the liver. One can control and even reverse the build up by reducing the intake of alcohol. However, if one doesn’t do anything about the development of the fat cells, it eventually leads to hepatitis.

The inflammation of the liver can range from mild to severe. One can also be afflicted by jaundice if the hepatitis becomes severe, resulting not only in pain in the liver but also a very sickly feeling. It is important that alcoholic hepatitis gets diagnosed at an early stage, because if left untreated, it may cause failure of the liver, a condition that can be fatal. Alcoholic hepatitis replaces normal liver cells with scar tissue or fibrosis. An increase in the level of scar tissue interrupts the normal growth of liver cells and a reduction in healthy liver cells. This, in turn, makes the flow of blood through the liver irregular.

Alcoholic Hepatitis Symptoms, Treatment and Remedies

Alcoholic hepatitis typically has symptoms like poor appetite, abdominal pain, fever, build up of fluids in the abdomen, jaundice, fatigue, and vomiting blood. If alcoholic hepatitis gets out of control, a liver transplant may also be needed. To avoid alcoholic hepatitis, one must abstain from consuming alcohol and smoking too. Even if someone drinks moderately, it can sometimes lead to alcoholic hepatitis. If one is suffering from alcoholic hepatitis, the first step one needs to take is to stop consuming alcohol completely. The sufferer also needs to stop consumption of fats by at least 30 per cent. There are also some simple home remedies that will help one care for the liver. Taking one teaspoonful of glucose in a cup of water thrice a day (morning, afternoon, and night) and drinking the juice of two oranges on an empty stomach for a week is very beneficial in treating alcoholic hepatitis. Lime water is also very beneficial in treating liver damage. You can squeeze the juice of lemon into about 100 ml of water, add salt, and consume it thrice a day for 21 days. The sufferer can also strengthen the liver by consuming a mixture of 300ml of carrot juice and 100 ml spinach juice or cucumber juice daily.