| Cirrhosis of the Liver is an
inflammatory disease that scars and hardens liver cells. The liver becomes
unable to function properly because the passage of blood is slowed or even
blocked by the scarring. The most common cause of cirrhosis is drinking too much
alcohol. Early symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver include: fatigue, weakness,
upset stomach, fever, poor appetite, red palms, vomiting, constipation
or diarrhea. Cirrhosis can be fatal and many do die
from this serious disease Cirrhosis has many causes. In the United States,
chronic alcoholism and hepatitis
C are the most common causes. Alcoholic liver disease. To many people, cirrhosis
of the liver is synonymous with chronic alcoholism, but in fact, alcoholism is
only one of the causes. Alcoholic cirrhosis usually occurs after more than a
period of 5 years of heavy drinking. The amount of alcohol that can injure the
liver is different from person to person. Note in females, as few as 2 to 3
drinks per day have been linked with cirrhosis, while in men, as few as 3 to 4
drinks a day. Alcohol appears to damage the person's liver by blocking the
normal metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. |
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Chronic hepatitis C. The hepatitis C virus ranks with alcohol as the major
cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in the United States. Infection
with this virus causes inflammation of and low grade damage to the liver that
over several decades can lead to cirrhosis. Chronic hepatitis B and D. The
hepatitis B virus is probably the most common cause of cirrhosis worldwide, but
in the United States and Western world it is less common. Hepatitis B, like
hepatitis C, causes liver inflammation and injury that over several decades can
lead to cirrhosis. The hepatitis D virus is another virus that infects the
liver, but only in people who already have hepatitis B. Autoimmune hepatitis.
This type of hepatitis is caused by a problem with the immune system.
Drugs, toxins, and infections which may relate: severe reactions to
prescription drugs, prolonged exposure to environmental toxins, the parasitic
infection schistosomiasis, and repeated bouts of heart failure with liver
congestion can each lead to cirrhosis. click
here for more information
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| Some of the following signs and symptoms may occur in the
presence of cirrhosis or as a result of the complications of cirrhosis. Many are
nonspecific and may occur in other diseases and do not necessarily point to
cirrhosis, and the absence of any of these does not rule out the possibility of
cirrhosis.
Decompensated cirrhosis - in patients with previously stable
cirrhosis, decompensation may occur due to various causes, such as constipation,
infection, increased alcohol intake, medication, bleeding from esophageal
varices or dehydration. It may take the form of any of the complications of
cirrhosis listed above.
Patients with decompensated cirrhosis generally require admission to
hospital, with close monitoring of the fluid balance, mental status, and
emphasis on adequate nutrition and medical treatment - often with diuretics,
antibiotics, laxatives and/or enemas, thiamine and occasionally steroids,
acetylcysteine and pentoxifylline. Administration of saline is generally avoided
as it would add to the already high total body sodium content that typically
occurs in cirrhosis. |
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It is believed that liver damage from cirrhosis cannot be reversed, but
treatment may stop or delay further progression and reduce complications of the
disease. A healthy diet is encouraged, as cirrhosis may be an energy consuming
process. Close followup is likely necessary. Antibiotics will be prescribed for
infections and herbal nutritional options are also available. And various
medications can help with itching. Laxatives, such as lactulose, decrease risk
of constipation; their role in
preventing things like encephalopathy are limited.
Alcoholic cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse is treated by not drinking
alcohol. Treatment for hepatitis related cirrhosis involves medications used to
treat the different types of hepatitis, such as interferon for viral hepatitis
and corticosteroids for autoimmune hepatitis. Cirrhosis caused by Wilson's
disease (in which copper builds up in the body organs) is treated by
chelation therapy such as penicillamine to remove the copper.
If liver complications cannot be controlled or if the person's liver stops
functioning then liver transplantation is necessary and survival from liver
transplantation has been improving over the 1990s, and the 5 year survival rate
is now around or over 80%, depending mainly on the severity of disease and other
medical problems in the liver recipient. In the USA, the MELD score is used to
prioritize patients for transplantation. Transplantation requires using of
immune suppressants such as cyclosporine or tacrolimus to help try to prevent
rejection of the transplanted liver.
Epidemiology - cirrhosis and chronic liver disease were the tenth leading
cause of death for men and the twelfth for women in the USA in 2001, killing
over 27,000 people every year And the cost of cirrhosis in terms of persons
suffering, hospital / medical costs, and lost productivity is very high.
Established cirrhosis has a 10 year mortality of between 34%-66%, mainly
dependent on the cause of the cirrhosis; alcoholic cirrhosis has a worse
prognosis than either primary biliary cirrhosis or cirrhosis due to hepatitis.
The risk of dying due to all causes is increased by 12 times; if one excludes
the specific consequences of the liver disease, there is still a 5 times
increased risk of death in all disease categories.
Little is known on modulators of cirrhosis risk, other than the other
diseases that cause liver injury such as the combination of alcoholic liver
disease and/or chronic viral hepatitis, that can act synergistically in leading
to cirrhosis of the liver. Research studies have recently suggested that coffee
consumption may help protect against cirrhosis, especially the alcoholic
cirrhosis.
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Read these
Doctor's Comments about Drugs
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"The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once
from the disease and once from the medicine." William Osler, M.D.
"The cause of most disease is in the poisonous drugs
physicians superstitiously give in order to effect a cure." Charles E.
Page, M.D.
"If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea,
it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity."
O.W. Holmes, (Prof. of Medicine Harvard University)
"Every drug increases and complicates the patients
condition." Robert Henderson, M.D.
"In sickness the body is already loaded with impurities. By
taking drug - medicines more impurities are added, thereby the case is further
embarrassed and harder to cure." Elmer Lee, M.D.
"The necessity of teaching mankind not to take drugs and
medicines, is a duty incumbent upon all who know their uncertainty and injurious
effects; and the time is not far distant when the drug system will be
abandoned." Charles Armbruster, M.D.
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See the website www.drugs.com
to look up possible side effects
of any prescription drugs or medications that you are using.
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Let
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use these gifts wisely. |
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