Wetin go happun to your liver wen you stop to dey drink alcohol

According to Greek mythology, Zeus punish Prometheus for giving fire to human being.

Im chain Prometheus and make one eagle chop im liver. Evri night, di liver go grow back again. And evri day di eagle go come back come chop di liver.

Actually, liver fit grow back?

Di liver na di biggest internal organ for di human body. E dey very necessary for many different parts of di body to process and function, dis include di breakdown of toxins like alcohol.

And since na im be di first organ wey dey get contact wit di alcohol we drink, e no be surprise say na im dey most sensitive to im effects.

However, make we no forget say oda organs, like di brain and heart, also feel damage sake of long-term excessive alcohol consumption.

As a liver specialist, I treat pipo wey get alcohol-related liver diseases evri day.

Na different diseases wey include accumulation of fat for di liver (fatty liver) to di forming of scars (cirrhosis) and e no dey usually cause symptoms until di damage don advance.

Fat and scar

At first, alcohol go make di liver fat. Dis fat dey cause di liver to swell.

E dey react by trying to heal and produce scar tissue. If dis no dey controlled, di entire liver fit become a mesh of scars wit small islands of "good" liver between dem: cirrhosis.

For di later stages of cirrhosis, wen di liver fail, pipo eyes fit turn yellow (jaundice), dem fit swell wit fluid, and feel dey sleepy and confused. Dis na serious mata, and e even fit kill.

Most pipo wey dey usually drink more dan di recommended limit of 14 units of alcohol per week (about six bottles of regular strength beer [4% ABV] or about six glasses of medium strength wine [175 ml] [14% ABV] go get fatty liver.

And, later for life, dem go develop scars and cirrhosis.

Good news

Fortunately, we get good news. For many pipo wey get fatty liver, afta just two to three weeks of stopping alcohol, di liver fit heal and return to looking and functioning as if na new one.

For oda pipo wit liver wey swell or get small scar, even seven days afta dem stop alcohol, dem go notice say di liver fat, swelling and scar reduce small.

Wen you give up alcohol for several months, e go allow di liver to heal and return to normal.

For heavy drinkers wey get more serious scar or liver failure, stopping alcohol for several years dey reduce di chance of di liver failure getting worse and death.

However, pipo wey dey over drink fit dey physically dependent on alcohol, and to suddenly stop am fit cause withdrawal symptoms.

If e dey mild, e fit cause tremors and sweating. But if e serious, e fit cause hallucinations, wey mean say you go dey see tins wey no dey dia - e dey also cause seizures and even death.

Dat na why e no dey recommended for heavy drinkers to stop on dia own: make dem consult doctor so dem go fit stop safely.

Oda benefits

To stop to dey drink also get positive effects on sleep, brain function, and blood pressure.

Avoiding alcohol for long period go also reduce di risk of several types of cancer (including liver, pancreas and colon), as well as di risk of heart disease and stroke.

However, alcohol no be di only cause of poor health. Giving up get many health benefits, but not for di panacea.

Consider am as part of healthy lifestyle, including balanced diet and regular physical exercise.

So, returning to di question wey di myth of Prometheus dey make us ask, di liver get amazing power to repair imsef afta e don damage.

But e no go fit grow back like new one if e don already dey seriously damaged.

If we stop drinking and na only fatty liver we get, e fit quickly return to normal.

If di liver don already get scar (cirrhosis), to stop drinking alcohol go allow am heal and improve im function, but witout undoing all di damage wey e don already suffer.

If you wan take care of your liver, no drink alcohol.

But if you still dey drink am, drink in moderation and go for two to three alcohol-free days a week.

Dis way you no go need to rely on di liver magical self-healing power to stay healthy.

Ashwin Dhanda na associate professor of hepatology for University of Plymouth, England.

Dis article bin appear for Conversation. You fit read di original version for English here.