Hey there, viewers.
I know your health has been at the top of your priority list lately.
But when was the last time you thought about your liver?
The liver is the largest organ in your body.
Given our lifestyles, we often pay no mind to substances that could be harming it.
Everyday habits we take part in can lead to cirrhosis of the liver.
Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring to your liver organ.
It’s caused by various forms of liver disease.
Are you drinking too much alcohol?
How about medications you have been consuming?
Wait, I thought Iron was healthy for you?
Let’s talk about 6 Factors That Are Leading You to Cirrhosis.
Too Much Iron
Yeah you heard that right.
Consuming foods with too much iron can be doing damage to your liver.
Your liver plays a critical role in your iron level.
If you’re a liver patient, any change to your iron metabolism can result in an iron overload.
Iron is a mineral with the purpose of preserving bodily functions like focus and energy.
It also works to maintain a healthy immune system.
A healthy iron level in your liver is regulated by the production of hepcidin.
This protein regulates the entry of iron into your circulation.
If you aren’t producing the proper amount of hepcidin,
this is when your iron metabolism will shift.
If a large amount of iron stays in your body over a number of years,
it can cause severe damage to the organ.
This damage includes cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis is one of the four stages of liver damage.
The first stage being inflammation.
This is followed by the second stage, fibrosis.
This signals the beginning of your liver’s scarring.
This results in more severe scarring known as cirrhosis.
The fourth stage is liver damage,
where the organ has lost all ability to function and can no longer heal.
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Too Much Alcohol
I hear ya’, most of us like to party every now and then.
But too much drinking can lead you down a long dark road.
This road includes cirrhosis of the liver.
In the United States, researchers have estimated
that 1 in every 400 adults is suffering from cirrhosis.
It is most common among people aged 45 to 54.
Among the many bad habits leading to cirrhosis,
experts have listed alcohol abuse as one of the most common.
If you’re guzzling down booze for an extended period of time,
your liver is going to suffer the consequences.
We’ve all heard stories about that one crazy drinker who hits the bottle
way too often and ends up in the doctor's office.
At some point, a professional will tell him that his liver is suffering from cirrhosis.
This normally spooks people into jumping on the wagon.
Make no mistake, you can really damage your body with excessive drinking.
When it comes to booze, there’s a certain routine that leads to cirrhosis.
A person usually has to be drinking heavily for at least 10 years.
More specifically, your risk of cirrhosis increases if you drink
more than an ounce and half of liquor each day.
If your intake surpasses 3 ounces per day, you will likely develop cirrhosis.
There are countless symptoms to go along with cirrhosis.
Some of them are subtle while others are just flat out terrifying.
Things like fatigue, confusion and dizziness can often be signs that cirrhosis is developing.
Mind you, you can also experience these from a simple lack of sleep.
Let’s get specific.
Vomiting blood is one of cirrhosis’ more aggressive symptoms.
This can be accompanied by all the previously mentioned symptoms,
as well as nose bleeds, muscle cramps, memory loss and jaundice.
The ladder of which is a condition where your skin, eyes and tongue turn yellow.
It sounds like something out of a horror movie.
To people who are experiencing any of these symptoms,
I don’t even need to tell you to see a doctor.
If you’ve been heavy on the booze lately,
the signs of cirrhosis should be enough motivation to cut down on the sauce.
Medication
Are you currently on any medication?
How do you know that it’s not affecting your liver?
Yes, the drugs you are taking can lead to cirrhosis.
And I’m not just talking about alcoholic substances.
These include everyday medications you are taking.
Even meds used to treat serious illnesses.
Ever heard of methotrexate?
This is a type of chemotherapy agent known for treating various types of cancer.
It’s also helpful in the fight against psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
But there’s bad news.
Studies have indicated that methotrexate can lead to severe liver disease.
One piece of research in particular focused on a 51 year old man with arthritis.
Doctors treated the man with a weekly methotrexate dose of 4.5 mg.
This routine lasted for almost 8 years.
In the end, a test for Hepatitis turned out to be negative,
but his liver did show signs of fibrosis and early cirrhosis.
Another medication can lead to liver disease as well.
I’m going to throw another annoyingly big word your way, so get ready…
Isoniazid.
That took me a while to pronounce.
Isoniazid is a drug of choice for tuberculosis treatment.
The problem is that it can also take your liver down a long hard road.
Hepatitis C
This is another big one.
There are currently 3.5 million Americans living with Hep C.
The scariest part is that most people who have it don’t even know they’ve been infected.
Hepatitis is the inflammation of your liver.
This damage makes it much harder for the organ to function.
Remember how I stated earlier that the first stage of liver damage is inflammation?
Well this particular form of inflammation will bring your
liver down a rather easy path to cirrhosis.
Research has found that out of around 85 people who experience Hep C,
5 to 20 of them will develop cirrhosis.
The inflammation will get too out of hand, turning into scarring.
Once the scarring has taken place, the cirrhosis has two stages.
The first is compensated cirrhosis, where the body still functions despite the damage.
The second stage is decompensated cirrhosis.
This means that liver functions are breaking down.
It can lead to complications with other organs.
I’m talking about your kidneys, as well as hemorrhages and decline in brain function.
Before we continue, are you concerned about the overall state of your health?
Perhaps you’d like our recent video discussing 6 Exercises For Women
That Will Transform Your Body In Just 4 Weeks.
Now back our list of habits that lead to cirrhosis.
Poor Diet
Much like excessive alcohol, this one should be obvious.
Eating junk food can hurt your liver.
Have you ever heard of fatty-liver disease?
Considering 25% of the U.S. population is estimated to have it, you should know about it.
Fatty liver disease is a condition where the fat in your liver builds up.
If you’re not a heavy drinker, your fatty liver is likely being caused by a terrible diet.
A fatty liver is seen as a direct cause of cirrhosis.
Many of the fried foods from your favorite restaurants are swimming in fat.
A Big Mac with fries and coke is around 1100 calories alone.
Over consumption of things like added sugar, salt, bread and red meat also contribute.
Those who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes
have a much greater risk of developing this condition.
If you’re looking for ways to treat your fatty liver and decrease cirrhosis risk,
you can start by changing up your diet.
Begin with foods like avocado, fish, walnuts and oatmeal.
Either that, or head over to see a doctor.
A fatty liver is nothing to play with.
Bad Bile Duct
Your bile ducts are a series of thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine.
If they are obstructed, it will lead to cirrhosis of the liver.
Primary biliary cirrhosis occurs when the bile duct sees too much bile buildup.
Bile is a gross, yellow-greenish fluid that helps with digestion in the small intestine.
As the build-up grows, the bile ducts will become destroyed, killing your liver cells.
Over time, this will turn into cirrhosis, eventually leading to liver failure.
Do you suffer from cirrhosis?
Are you going to cut down on any of these habits?
Let us know in the comments below.
We would love to hear from you!