What will happen to the body if an ordinary person suddenly drinks too much? Can quitting drinking restore health?

To explore this question, 31-year-old British man Daryle Knight used his own body to conduct experiments. At first, he drank alcohol for a month, and his skin began to chapped; He later gained 83 kilograms, which is far overweight< span>.

After a month of binge drinking, Daryle started quitting drinking, intending to stay off alcohol for the next month.

Daryle has rejected all New Year’s Day gatherings. In order to avoid the temptation of drinking, When I want to drink, I will also replace it with water and juice. .

At first, Daryle felt that quitting drinking was nothing more than that, no difficulty, but soon he encountered the test. Once at a party, there were voices persuading him to drink alcohol. In order not to let his “will” be shaken, he left the party early.

Daryle started spending more time going to the gym, which he felt was the only public place where everyone only drank water and not alcohol. In addition, he tries to eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep.

One month later, Daryle’s belly has become firmer, his waistline has shrunk, his weight has been controlled, and even his sleep and diet have improved . Daryle said, Although not drinking alcohol for a month is a very powerful test of one’s willpower, but after doing it, I really feel body changes.

The picture on the left is the photo of the man during alcoholism. The picture on the right is the photo of the man after he quit drinking. Source: People’s Daily Online

1. Why do Europeans and Americans love to drink alcohol, but there are fewer liver cancer patients than China?

According to the data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 33,000 Americans will suffer from liver cancer in 2020, and 410,000 people will be diagnosed with liver cancer in China every year. In both countries, the incidence of liver cancer in the United States is only 1/3 of that in my country.

We all know that the occurrence of liver cancer is related to alcohol consumption.

In a large global study from the National Cancer Institute, assessed in The Lancet Oncology, In 2020, about 740,000 new cancer cases worldwide are caused by alcohol consumption, of which 154,700 cases are liver cancer..

After drinking alcohol, 90% of people need to be metabolized by the liver, and the acetaldehyde produced during the metabolism will cause direct toxicity to the liver, and the damage is irreversible. If the patient itself has hepatitis B and C, combined with alcohol injury, it will cause strong stimulation to inflammation, which will increase the risk of liver cancer.

And according to a study published in The Lancet, the analysis The trend of alcohol intake in 189 countries from 1990 to 2017, the results found that the per capita alcohol consumption in the United States was 9.8 liters, while the per capita alcohol consumption in China was 7.4 liters. Why do Americans drink more alcohol, but there are fewer liver cancer patients than Chinese Woolen cloth?

In fact, the reasons are very realistic, mainly due to the following two points:

①The high rate of hepatitis B infection in China

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According to the China Primary Liver Cancer Clinical Registry Survey (CLCS) 2020 interim report, 83.77% of Chinese liver cancer patients had a history of hepatitis B virus infection. In China, there are as many as 7-97 million people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection!

②Chinese people drink more at risk of cancer

Published in The Lancet Chinese people have key genetic variants in alcohol metabolism, leading to decreased metabolic capacity, according to a study.

In addition, a study published in “Nature” found that people with defects in the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene are more susceptible to alcohol damage and have a higher risk of cancer than people without the defect. .

Unfortunately, about 1/3 of the Chinese are looking for mutations in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which prevent the body from effectively degrading acetaldehyde. In other words, Chinese people who drink alcohol are more likely to develop cancer.

Second, there are 4 kinds of changes in the body, maybe the liver is calling for help

The liver has a strong compensatory ability. Even if it is injured, it can still “suffer it” and continue to work. Once the liver has obvious symptoms, it is likely that it cannot return to normal. So what if the liver is detected early?

1. Fatigue

When the liver is damaged, it consumes protein in the body Self-repair with vitamins, coupled with the weakened digestive function at this time, the body’s nutritional needs cannot be supplied in time, resulting in fatigue and lack of energy.

2. Long-term abdominal distension

Bloating is mostly related to indigestion, but it is also an alcoholic liver disease One of the common manifestations, especially long-term abdominal distension after drinking alcohol, is likely to be caused by alcoholic liver.

3. Abdominal pain

When alcoholic fatty liver disease occurs, it can cause liver cell necrosis and inflammation around the spleen, and the patient will feel persistent abdominal pain.

4. Loss of appetite

Loss of appetite is also a common manifestation of liver disease, usually caused by alcoholic liver disease The loss of appetite will be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and other symptoms after drinking, thus affecting the function of the gastrointestinal tract.

It should be noted that the development of alcoholic liver in the advanced stage, This loss of appetite is exacerbated by the development of hepatic ascites.

Three, good wine People, can the liver recover after quitting drinking?

People who drink too much may have the idea that “after quitting drinking, the liver can also recover.” Think, can it go back to normal?

Actually, liver damage from drinking too much alcohol is irreversible strong>. The damage of alcohol to the liver is gradually accumulated, and there are generally no obvious symptoms in the early stage of liver damage.When the body has obvious discomfort, it means that the liver damage has been difficult to “self-repair” ”, the chances of a cure have dropped significantly.

Xu Qian, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of the Ministry of Health span>I once said: The liver is the first organ damaged after drinking alcohol. Even if you are not drunk, as long as you drink excessively for a long time, alcohol will “corrode” the liver a little bit, and eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Loss of liver function.

Is there any way to reduce the damage of alcohol to the liver?

1. Drink more water

Don’t drink on an empty stomach, drink more before drinking Boiled water accelerates the excretion of alcohol from the urine and helps reduce the load on the liver.

2. Don’t drink high alcohol

In the case of the same amount of alcohol consumption, high-alcohol alcohol is often more harmful to the liver than low-alcohol alcohol.

3. Take a small sip

Do not drink “combine” or “sip” dry” appears bold. When drinking, try to slow down and take small sips.

Drinking is not only easy to get drunk, but when a large amount of alcohol pours in at the same time, the damage to the respiratory tract, stomach and other organs will be greater

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Finally remind everyone that the so-called honey water, hangover medicine and tea are not really To be able to hangover, any alcohol needs to be metabolized and digested by the liver, so if you want to protect your body, please drink as little or no alcohol as possible.

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