What is liver damage?

There may be various causes of liver damage, such as common viral infections, or the effects of drugs and chemical poisons, which may all cause liver damage. People who drink excessively for a long time also suffer serious damage to their livers.

1. Viral infection: It is caused by a variety of hepatitis viruses and is highly contagious, has complex transmission routes, is widely prevalent, and has a high incidence rate. Currently, viral hepatitis is mainly divided into five types: hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. In recent years, hepatitis F and hepatitis G have also been discovered. Among them, hepatitis A and hepatitis E are acute hepatitis, which is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, which is commonly known as "disease enters the body through the mouth."

2. Drugs or chemical poisons: Many drugs and chemical poisons can cause liver damage, resulting in drug-induced hepatitis or toxic hepatitis. What causes liver damage? The extent of liver damage depends on the duration of drug or chemical exposure or dosage, as well as individual quality differences. Long-term use or repeated exposure to drugs and chemical poisons can lead to chronic hepatitis and even cirrhosis.

3. Alcoholism: Alcohol can cause serious damage to the liver. The consequences include alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic fatty liver, and alcoholic cirrhosis, which are mainly caused by the direct damage to liver cells caused by the toxicity of alcohol (ethanol) and its metabolite acetaldehyde. According to research, if people drink more than 150 grams of alcohol every day for more than 5 years, 90% may develop various liver damages; if it lasts for more than 10 years, about 30% will develop chronic hepatitis, and about a quarter will develop cirrhosis.

4. Other reasons: Primary and secondary liver tumors, heart failure leading to liver congestion, certain congenital liver diseases, intravenous hypernutrition, etc. can all cause varying degrees of liver damage. The early manifestations of these liver damages are often elevated ALT (transaminase) or bilirubin. If the cause is not eliminated, liver damage will further worsen. In addition, many systemic infectious diseases can invade the liver, such as Epstein-Barr virus and typhoid fever among bacterial infectious diseases, which can cause elevated serum transaminases or other liver function abnormalities.