LiveWorld Transcripts

Houston Chronicle presents

Dr. Woods
"Ask the Doctor": Liver Disease

February 22, 2000

The Houston Chronicle presents "Ask the Doctor" with Dr. Woods who discusses health issues involving liver disease, transplants, biopsies, hepatitis, and alcohol related diseases.

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HoustonChronicle: Welcome to Ask the Doctor! The purpose of the Ask The Doctor chats are to provide general information and is in no way intended to be construed as medical advice for any visitor's specific disease or condition. The intent is to increase a participant's knowledge about a general disease or condition. For treatment of your specific condition please see your personal physician. This forum is not intended to be used in emergency situations. If you are uncertain of the urgency of your problem or condition, contact your personal physician or the nearest hospital for assistance. HoustonChronicle.com, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital - Houston and the Talk City Network are proud to present our special guests for today, the doctors of the Texas Liver Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Welcome Dr. Woods!

Dr. Woods: Thank you very much! I appreciate the opportunity to be here!

Garindan: Is all liver disease associated with excessive alcohol use? Does alcohol consumption have any effects on someone with liver disease?

Dr. Woods: The answer is clearly that no, most liver disease is NOT related to alcohol use. However, in the United States, alcohol is a major cause of liver disease. In answer to the second part of the question, if you have any form of liver disease, you can accelerate the worsening of the disease by using alcohol, even in what would ordinarily be considered social use. In other words, alcohol in almost any amount is bad in a patient with underlying liver disease.

Pammy: Does hypertension have any effect on the liver?

Dr. Woods: There is no direct affect of high blood pressure, or hypertension, on the liver. High blood pressure affects many organs, but the liver does not happen to be one of them.

Whirlygig: Can you give me some general information on maintaining good liver health?

Dr. Woods: Yes! As we discussed on the prior question, one of the primary things to avoid is excessive use of alcohol. In addition, since most medications and things that you take in by mouth are processed or detoxified by the liver, you must be careful that you follow the appropriate dosing requirements for medications and do not exceed the recommended amount of things like vitamins, especially those vitamins that are called "fat-soluble" as these can build up in the liver. In addition, watching one's weight can be important, as the liver is a major storage area for fat. This is especially true in patients with diabetes.

Eli: My grandmother died of liver cancer. Should I be concerned? Am I at increased risk for contracting hepatitis?

Dr. Woods: The answer to the last part of the question clearly is no, unless you are exposed to the Hepatitis virus. It is not transmitted from generation to generation. The risk of developing liver cancer would depend on whether the participant's grandfather had any type of liver disease. In the United States, approximately 80% of patients who develop a cancer that arises in the liver have some form of underlying liver disease. In most cases, the liver becomes involved with tumors that spread to the liver from other organs, like the colon. If this was the case, certainly the participant should be screened for the location that the cancer came from. But as a general answer, most times, unless you know you have liver disease, you would not be more prone to develop liver cancer, just because a relative has had cancer of the liver.

ProzacChick: I heard about a liver "cleanse" that involved drinking a cup of olive oil. Two questions - does the liver actually need a cleanse? And if so, would this one be effective?

Dr. Woods: To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a liver cleanse. What they may be trying to accomplish by drinking olive oil, is to stimulate the production of bile by the liver, and to force the gall bladder which is simply attached to the liver by the bile duct, to contract and empty its bile. However, I know of no scientific evidence that this in any way has been shown to "cleanse" the liver.

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