The Liver Life Project

Introduction

F irstly, I feel it’s important that I state right from the start that this website is from a personal perspective only. I am NOT medically qualified but have experienced first-hand, what it’s like to go through many of these associated medical conditions. I can therefore totally empathise with those who are struggling to cope or understand their condition. Most of the medical information on this site has been taken from other reputable websites. Such as the NHS, and the British Liver Trust. It has never been my intention to infringe upon any copyright law, but to merely share reliable and legitimate information to raise awareness of the alcohol-related liver disease. On several of pages, I have used some videos. These I feel often help to explain things a little better and are both informative and thought-provoking. I should also like to point out that a number of these videos (like the one on Varices) can be rather bloody and graphic. These videos are best viewed in a full-screen setting with the sound turned on. T his website is about understanding what it’s like to go through alcohol-related issues from a personal perspective. I hate the word ‘Alcoholic’ as this word alone just stigmatises a person. Sadly, an alcoholic is looked upon as being a “Down and out”, a “Drunk”, or a “wino”. (Our American cousins love to label things and put them neatly into nice little boxes). We may have all experienced similar traits in our lives, but each one of us is unique. A person who has alcohol- related issues may well be wrongly labelled an alcoholic. When in fact that is not the case. What I do happen to find rather frustrating, is that I know of some people out there who do drink far too much, but just go on kidding themselves, “Oh I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong with my liver”. If only they knew.

Some Interesting Facts

About the Liver

* The liver passes around 2000 litres of blood and filters it 350 times per day. * The liver has a unique capability to restore itself after an inflammation, trauma, poisoning or other stress. * 30–50 percent of liver diseases are caused by alcohol. * The liver is the largest digestion gland and the largest internal organ occupying almost the entire cavity under the right side of the rib cage. The liver doesn’t have any pain receptors, so it can’t always tell you when it’s poorly or becoming damaged. During the early stages of liver disease a patient usually doesn't feel anything. Later on though, weakness and general fatigue may occur. Most often the disease makes itself known by complications: yellowish skin, dark urine, light faeces. Especially threatening complications are the fluid in the abdominal cavity and bleeding from the digestive tract.

Alcohol-Related Liver Disease