Do You Know You Are Poisoning Yourself?

So the story goes. Ekumanku (not his real name) loves fun!
For him, life is short and must be enjoyed. He's determined nothing will stop him from doing just that. But little did he know that some of the ''fun'' he indulged in were literally stealing his life away- he was into drugs and had become a chronic alcoholic, which for him were all part of the fun in life. There was nothing he could compare to the Euphoric feeling he had each time he gets high on his recreational drugs and alcohol. For him, this was the peak of fun.


I got to meet Ekumanku one morning in clinic. He was being managed for Alcoholic Liver Disease. His eyes were yellow, his legs swollen, his belly so distended that if he was female, you would almost think he was seven months pregnant. Despite this, he had lost so much weight and was emaciated. His hands kept trembling uncontrollably as we spoke.
I became more interested in Ekumanku when we got talking. We got along pretty fast. He told me he wished his friends would listen to him. While they drank together, they jeered at anyone who attempted counseling them to go slow on alcohol. They would cite the old men in the village who had lived on concentrated locally-brewed gins for all their lives yet had attained good, ripe old age. He also told me how they believed even God endorsed star beer by leading the Maggi to baby Jesus using a star. To them, this was symbolic of how star beer could lead you to wisdom and they drowned themselves in all sorts of alcohol.
The problem now is that he has experienced first hand, the dangers of excessive alcohol and he knows differently. He was just thirty three years old when we met but his liver was almost completely gone-thanks to alcohol. He wished his friends would listen to him and stop drinking because he doesn't want them to travel same road as him. But alas, they jeered at him same way he jeered at others.

Normal Liver

Fatty Liver e.g due to alcohol

Cirrhotic Liver e.g due to alcohol

My friend Ekumanku stopped drinking, got strong, but his health never returned to normal. His liver disease had already progressed to an irreversible stage that is amenable to only liver transplant, a procedure that is very scarce to benefit from, even in the developed world.

 
Chronic alcohol use affects almost every organ in the body, sparing none from head to toe. Alcoholic Liver Disease is only one of the myriad of illnesses chronic excessive alcohol use can cause. If identified early, damage due to alcohol can be reversed completely if the affected person abstains totally from alcohol. If identified at a late stage of illness, the damage can be halted and attempts can be made to help the affected individual lead a near normal life. Liver transplant is however the only definitive treatment modality for advanced cases of Alcoholic Liver disease like Severe Liver Cirrhosis or Liver Cancer.
Remember, prevention is always better than cure and a stitch in time saves nine others. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. If you are already hooked on alcohol, decide and take steps to turn a new leaf. If you are already down in health, see the nearest doctor as soon as possible.
The next time you desire to ''hit the bottles'', remember you may just be about committing suicide.
Stay healthy!

...Watch out for my follow-up article on ''permissible'' level of alcohol ingestion.