Patient's question:
My husband is 39 years old and a seasoned businessman. He has endless dinner engagements every day. He has had fatty liver for a long time now, and I'm very worried about him. Whenever he attends a dinner, he insists on drinking beer. I wonder if he can still drink beer with fatty liver.Doctor's answer:
Patients with fatty liver should avoid alcohol consumption and gradually achieve complete abstinence. This is especially important for patients with alcoholic fatty liver disease, as excessive consumption of beer is a primary cause of the disease. Since alcohol is primarily metabolized and detoxified by the liver, its breakdown process produces toxic acetaldehyde, which directly harms the already damaged liver and impairs the physiological function of liver cells. This significantly reduces the liver's metabolic function, exacerbates fat deposition in the liver, accelerates the progression of liver deterioration, and worsens the condition of fatty liver disease. Additionally, heavy drinking by patients with fatty liver accelerates the development of alcoholic liver disease, leading to fibrosis and suppuration of liver cells, further promoting liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.