But its principal job is to detoxify the blood, says Jorge Herrera, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile. All of the blood in the body filters through the liver, which removes any substances that shouldn't accumulate in the bloodstream. Restructuring these substances to make new water-soluble chemicals, the liver then sends them on their way in the bile, the yellowish fluid that empties into the lower intestine to help with digestion. Both can wreak havoc and lead to cirrhosis, a disease where liver cells die from long-term inflammation and scar tissue takes their place. This scarring interferes with the normal blood flow through the liver and disrupts the organ's ability to filter toxins.
Advanced cirrhosis can lead to impaired mental ability, coma and death.
It's pretty obvious how you can avoid cirrhosis caused by drinking. Here's what experts suggest. Hepatitis A, the most common type, can be transferred through contaminated food and water, says Miriam Alter, Ph.D., chief of epidemiology in the hepatitis branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. So be sure that you and your family members wash your hands after every visit to the bathroom and before meals. Vie for the vaccine.