How long liver to recover from alcohol

If excessive alcohol use and scarring continues over time, eventually the liver can become too scarred to function properly. Some alcohol-related liver damage can be reversed if you stop drinking alcohol early enough in the disease process.

Healing can begin as early as a few days to weeks after you stop drinking, but if the damage is severe, healing can take several months. The bottom line is that moderate alcohol use — no more than two to three drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women — should be acceptable and you should not expect any long-term damage. Learn more about liver health. Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician? Save time, book online. Close X. The Royal College of Physicians RCP says the government guidelines should be amended as they imply daily drinking is safe.

The Select Committee launched the inquiry on 18 July to find out, among other things, whether the evidence base and sources of scientific advice to Government on alcohol could be improved. The current government advice, issued by the Chief Medical Officers recommends that men should not regularly drink more than units of alcohol a day and women should not regularly drink more than units a day. They disagree with this, saying the liver needs time to recover, even from small amounts of alcohol.

There is a higher risk of liver disease for people who drink alcohol every day or nearly every day compared to people who drink less frequently, says the RCP. There is an increased risk of liver disease for those who drink daily or near daily compared with those who drink periodically or intermittently. At these levels, most individuals are unlikely to come to harm. One of the studies the RCP refers to is a Japanese study that showed heavy drinkers who consumed their alcohol over 5 to 7 days had higher rates of death than those who consumed it over 1 to 4 days.

A more serious problem occurs in patients who drink alcohol on a daily basis, particularly more than two drinks. In those situations, normal doses of Tylenol three to four times a day can produce severe liver damage.

The same problem can occur in patients with the other liver diseases such as viral hepatitis. Additionally, more common toxins tend to be those that are inhaled, such as cleaning solvents, aerosolized paints, thinners, etc. The liver is a unique organ. It is the only organ in the body that is able to regenerate. With most organs, such as the heart, the damaged tissue is replaced with scar, like on the skin.

The liver, however, is able to replace damaged tissue with new cells. If up to 50 to 60 percent of the liver cells may be killed within three to four days in an extreme case like a Tylenol overdose, the liver will repair completely after 30 days if no complications arise. Complications of liver disease occur when regeneration is either incomplete or prevented by progressive development of scar tissue within the liver. This occurs when the damaging agent such as a virus, a drug, alcohol, etc.

Once scar tissue has developed it is very difficult to reverse that process. Severe scarring of the liver is the condition known as cirrhosis. The development of cirrhosis indicates late stage liver disease and is usually followed by the onset of complications. The largest risk factor for liver disease from alcohol is the amount and the length of time the individual has been drinking.

Males often develop complications that appear to be on a gender basis as well. Each individual is entirely different. Complication can develop after 5 to 10 years, though it more commonly it takes 20 to 30 years.

Many individuals appear to never develop end stage liver disease from alcohol. This is impossible to predict ahead of time. Hepatitis is a generic term. It indicates inflammation and damage to liver cells. This damage can be caused by drugs, toxins, alcohol, inherited diseases, certain metabolic diseases, and viruses.