As the Chinese New Year approaches, people are ushered in and sent out, families reunite, visit friends and relatives, and all gatherings are inevitably fueled by drinking and getting drunk. The main component of wine is alcohol (ethanol), more than 90% of which is metabolized in the liver to produce acetaldehyde, which can directly damage liver cells. The liver is an important organ for alcohol metabolism, and long-term excessive drinking can cause fatty degeneration and inflammatory necrosis of liver cells, leading to the occurrence of alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis. Research shows that: normal men drink an average of 40 grams of alcohol per day (more than 20 grams for women) for more than 5 years, that is, alcoholic liver damage may occur; 2 weeks of heavy drinking more than 80g grams per day, alcoholic liver disease may also occur. As you can imagine, normal people are still like this, chronic viral hepatitis patients drinking alcohol is undoubtedly even worse, they are more likely to suffer from alcoholic liver disease than the general population. Because chronic viral hepatitis patients already have liver damage, long-term alcohol consumption will increase the fat accumulation of liver cells, so that the liver’s blood and oxygen supply and its own metabolic disorders, so that liver cells swelling, inflammatory infiltration and degeneration necrosis, resulting in more hepatocytes infected by the hepatitis virus; a large number of virus replication further aggravates the inflammation and necrosis of liver cells, so that the metabolic ability of liver cells to alcohol is weakened, thus increasing the impact of alcohol on the liver. This increases the toxicity of alcohol to the liver, and the end of such a vicious circle is undoubtedly to speed up the process of viral hepatitis and increase the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer, the consequences of which are unimaginable. According to research, alcohol is more closely related to the progress of hepatitis C. It not only promotes the replication of hepatitis C virus in human liver cells, but also reduces the antiviral activity of alpha-interferon, which directly affects the antiviral efficacy of interferon. Therefore, in addition to hepatitis B, alcohol consumption is also a very important factor in the progression of viral hepatitis C. In addition, drinking alcohol during the latent period of acute hepatitis can lead to aggravation of liver damage and even acute or subacute liver failure, resulting in irreversible and serious consequences; alcohol also has a strong stimulating effect on the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, and patients with cirrhosis have mucosal damage and fundic-esophageal varices due to portal hypertension, and drinking alcohol can be complicated by upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, while inducing life-threatening hepatic brain. Experts remind: patients with liver disease to abstain from alcohol is unconditional, wine, beer should be within the taboo, even the Spring Festival can not be an exception! Please take care of your liver and cherish your life!