Shadow Mountain Recovery Aims at Stopping Liver Disease in New Mexico

Shadow Mountain Recovery recently outlined the early signs of liver damage in an effort to warn New Mexican citizens of the potential dangers of alcohol misuse.

According to the New Mexico Health Department, since 1981, the state has been one of the top three states for alcohol-related deaths. These deaths range from immediate effects of alcohol use like traffic accidents, or suicide, to long-term effects like liver disease.

On average, four people die daily in New Mexico as a result of alcohol consumption. From 2017 to 2018 alone, deaths from alcohol use rose 6%.

Shadow Mountain warns that overuse of alcohol can lead to liver damage and disease, which can result in death.

“Alcohol consumption has been around for centuries, and that’s long enough for us to see the trends of what it does to our bodies over time,” said Sara Buckler, Vice President of Clinical Outreach and Admissions at Shadow Mountain.

“We know that after processing so much alcohol, our livers can no longer keep up, and our body begins its journey into ceasing to function,” Ms. Buckler said. “How do we know when our body is taking on too much? How do we know when our body has had enough?”

Liver damage begins after too much alcohol consumption. The information Shadow Mountain released outlines the early signs to look for to avoid further damage.

“The first signs of liver damage from alcohol can be vague or can be serious,” Ms. Buckler explained. “Typically there are three diseases that occur from excessive alcohol use: fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.”

Although fatty liver doesn’t typically come with symptoms, there are still signs that other diseases could be in someone’s future if the amount of alcohol being consumed isn’t lessened.

The information released also specified common early signs of liver damage are: Nausea and vomiting, Diarrhea, Loss of appetite, Fatigue, Unexpected weight loss, Soreness and/or tenderness around the liver area.

To learn more about liver damage, read Shadow Mountain’s blog post here.