MADRID, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Scientists at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra in Spain have discovered the origin of liver failure in patients suffering from acute alcoholism.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Doctor Josepmaria Argemi, the main author of the work, explained that alcohol is one of the main causes of death due to liver failure in the developed world and the second highest cause of fat on the liver after obesity.
According to the study published in the July edition of the scientific publication Nature Communications, over half of the deaths from liver failure in the European Union are due to excessive alcohol consumption.
However, Argemi warns the figure could be even higher as "alcohol abuse is often not detected by doctors due to social stigma" which leads patients to hide their addiction and investigators not to carry out studies into the biological mechanism.
Acute alcoholic hepatitis is a failure of the liver with a 30 percent mortality rate within three months of the attack. For this reason the investigation tried to find ways to regenerate the liver and save lives.
"Our work has shown that cells affected by hepatitis don't die, but they become 'selfish' and decide to stop carrying out the functions which are vital for the body, such as synthesizing plasma proteins or generating glucose," said Argemi.
The doctor added that the "only current treatment for this are corticoids," a treatment begun in the 1970s and which has a limited effect.
Argemi hoped the results of the study would give patients a "second chance," but he also stressed the true solution was in someone "curing their addiction to alcohol."
To do that "multidisciplinary teams are being formed to help patients survive the acute attacks, stop drinking and not suffer any relapses," the doctor said.
