Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a severe liver disease in which liver cells are lost and irreversible scarring of liver tissue takes place. This results in dysfunction of the liver. It is a resultant complication of many liver diseases. The main causes of Cirrhosis include excessive consumption of alcohol and Hepatitis B and C. The common symptoms at earlier stages are fatigue, loss of appetite, while later the patient may develop jaundice and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Causes of Cirrhosis

Liver diseases cause the death of liver tissues and hence, inflammation and repair procedure of the tissue results in the formation of scar tissue. The people who are most at risk of getting cirrhosis have had alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis, have a history of liver-related disease, or inject drugs through injection. The scar tissue blocks the blood flow and slowdowns the functions performed by the liver. Hence, in turn slowing down the processing of nutrients, hormones, drugs, and toxins by the liver while in later stage, cirrhosis can be life-threatening.

Symptoms 

The symptoms of cirrhosis are varied in different stages of the disease. In the earlier stages of the disease, the symptoms are very common like nausea, loss of appetite, and unexpected weight loss which could be or not be because of the disease. In the later stages, the disease becomes severe with symptoms like yellowness in the skin, swelling in legs, feet, blood in stool, brownish or orange color in urine. The complications of the disease can be severe which include, hypertension in portal blood veins which causes blockage of blood flow from the liver, severe infections in abdominal tissue, liver cancer, and liver failure.

Diagnosis

If the patient has a history of alcoholism or liver-related disorders the doctor might recommend

• Physical test: In the physical test, the doctor looks for symptoms like the yellow tint of the skin, spider-like blood vessels, tenderness or pain in the abdomen, etc.

• Blood Test: If from the above symptoms the doctor suspects cirrhosis, they will recommend a blood test looking for the following signs, lower level of proteins produced by the liver, raised levels of liver enzymes, also other signs include looking for infection and occurrence of viral hepatitis B or C.

• Imaging Tests: This test shows the size and texture of the liver. The scarring of the liver and levels of fat in the liver and fluid in the abdomen.

• Biopsy: A tissue from the liver can be removed and examined under a microscope. It can confirm the presence of cirrhosis and the other causes of liver disorder.

Treatment

There doesn’t exist a complete cure for cirrhosis, hence the treatment is based on the symptoms and cause of cirrhosis. It includes, preventing further damage to the liver, treating the complications, in case of liver cancer, detecting and preventing it in earlier stages or the ultimate treatment is liver transplantation.