A non-alcoholic, Bachchan says he contracted the disease in his near fatal accident while shooting for Coolie in 1982.

As a shock to his umpteen number of fans, Big B reveals how he has lost almost 25% of his liver to the sickness.

Cirrhosis contracted through blood transfusion
Amitabh Bachchan met with a near fatal accident on the set of Coolie and damaged his intestines during a fight sequence. He remained critically ill for weeks. According to the blog, he received about 60 bottles of blood from roughly 200 volunteers.

Unfortunately one of the donors carried Australian antigen hepatitis which Bachchan imbibed through the blood transfusion.

With no known immediate tests to ascertain its existence, it went into his system and attacked his liver. As the virus was unknown during that time, the revelation came to light only recently.

Only eight years ago, through series of MRI, doctors realized that Amitabh Bachchan had lost almost 25% of his liver. He had developed cirrhosis of the liver--a condition that normally arises from excessive drinking.

Cirrhosis impairs the liver's ability to control infections and process nutrients, hormones and drugs. The sensitivity of the disease requires Bachchan to stay under constant vigil and monitoring.

“A patient by default”, says Bachchan
All this is disclosed by Amitabh Bachchan on his blog where he felt the need to open up to his fans who loved him so much.

Bachchan is known to suffer from constant stomach-related ailments to which he adds,” My stomach is a battlefield.” Even on his 66th birthday on Oct. 11, 2008, the actor was admitted to hospital complaining of abdominal pain.

The 67-year-old actor has to get himself monitored on a regular basis and keep checking if there is any further damage taking place.

He further discloses how it has become a routine to get himself monitored every three months through a MRI.