What killed Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell? Singer dies after suffering liver failure from years of addiction and drugs

Steve Harwell, the former frontman of the band Smash Mouth, has died at the age of 56.

While an official cause of death has not been confirmed, Harwell’s manager said in a statement Monday that the singer had died of acute liver failure after being transferred to a hospice.

It has also been reported that Harwell suffered from liver failure after a lifelong battle with alcohol abuse and addiction.

Liver failure, the loss of liver function, is rare and kills about 50,000 adults in the US each year. An estimated 5.5 million people have cirrhosis, or severe scarring of the liver, often caused by alcoholism, which can lead to liver failure.

The liver is a crucial organ in the body responsible for a host of functions that support metabolism, immunity, digestion, detoxification and vitamin storage.

It also makes proteins that help blood clot and carry oxygen, and produces bile for digestion.

Below, DailyMail.com explains what liver failure is and how the condition can lead to death.

What is Liver Failure?

Liver failure is when the vital organ is no longer able to perform its critical functions. The diagnosis is made through blood tests, which can show whether the organ is working properly.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital of Ohio describes the condition as when the organ “becomes so sick and damaged that it stops working.”

There are two types of liver failure: acute and chronic.

Acute liver failure is when the organ rapidly loses its ability to function, usually over a period of days to weeks.

Chronic liver failure, on the other hand, is when the organ loses its ability to function over months to years due to damage that has worsened over time.

Both conditions can be caused by alcohol abuse, which damages the organ and replaces healthy cells with scar tissue, impairing its function.

They can also be caused by the use of medications, viral infections, and autoimmune diseases.

Chronic liver disease is more common than acute and was the ninth leading cause of death in the US in 2020, after 56,000 deaths.

However, acute liver disease is rare: about 2,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Symptoms of liver failure include abdominal pain, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes), and severe fatigue.

Patients may also have dark-colored urine and clay-colored stools.

What Causes Liver Failure?

Acute liver failure can be caused by a sudden trigger that overloads an already damaged liver.

Many patients may already have chronic liver disease, caused by factors such as consuming an excess of alcohol.

Regularly drinking a lot of alcohol eventually causes the liver to begin replacing healthy cells with scar tissue, impairing the organ’s ability to function.

This happens because the alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde, which is toxic to the organ. It can also cause fats to build up in the liver, causing inflammation and further damaging the cells.

If a chronic liver patient continues to put stress on the organ, for example by partaking in a night of binge drinking, the sudden exacerbation can put stress on the liver, causing it to fail in a medical condition known as acute-on-chronic liver failure.

However, it is more common for acute liver failure to occur in people who have no history of liver problems.

Doctors at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles say it can be caused by suddenly taking a lot of medications, such as the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol.

These can overwhelm the liver with toxins, shutting it down.

Can liver failure be cured?

Doctors say that early stage liver damage can be treated — and may even be reversible — by addressing the root cause.

For people with liver failure due to alcohol dependence, treatment may include lifestyle changes such as abstaining from alcohol, rehabilitation, or therapy to address the factors that drive a person to drink.

In some cases, patients may also be offered a liver transplant.

This is when part of a healthy liver is taken from a living donor and transplanted into a person with liver failure, replacing the damaged organ and growing into a fully functioning liver.

The operation is normally successful; more than 90 percent of patients live longer than a year.

In other cases, an entire liver can be taken from a deceased donor and transplanted into a patient.

But many transplant centers will refuse the surgery to people who are currently drug abusers or alcoholics.

This is because any further use of alcohol or other substances can lead to rapid damage to the newly transplanted liver, causing the surgery to fail.

Some medical institutions even require a period of fasting before being eligible to be placed on the transplant waiting list. For example, Johns Hopkins University in Maryland says alcoholics must be sober for at least six months before being considered for a liver transplant.

For those who need a full liver transplant, there is also a shortage of organs, most of which are reserved only for patients who need it most.