Cirrhosis in The Liver
For the liver, heavy alcohol drinking, infection from hepatitis or fatty liver, all of the mentioned diseases lead to liver cirrhosis. Unfortunately, it is a disease that barely shows no sign in its early stage. When the patients realise that they already reach the stage of cirrhosis, the liver might be damaged to 80%. Afterwards, the next phase in coming is the future development of liver cancer caused by cirrhosis.
What is Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a liver disease phase that is more severe than fibrosis. The normal liver, they have the repair process to heal itself when it is injured by a lifestyle, such as heavy alcohol drinking. On the other hand, the damaged liver or cirrhosis liver will not recover by itself as a consequence of the scarred tissues. Plus, the excessive consumption of alcohol causes more damage and will lead to liver failure and life threats.
Cirrhosis Causes
As everyone knows, cirrhosis is a liver disease in which the liver is severely scarred. There are many causes that are able to damage the liver and lead to cirrhosis.
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Excessive consumption of alcohol (chronic alcohol)
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Hepatitis B, C and D viruses
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Accumulation of fat in the liver
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Hemochromatosis (iron overload)
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Cystic fibrosis (a genetic disorder)
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Wilson's disease (the accumulation of copper in the liver)
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Biliary atresia
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Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (a genetic disorder)
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Galactosemia and GSD (an abnormality of carbohydrate metabolism)
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Autoimmune hepatitis
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Alagille syndrome (a genetic disorder)
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Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC: a disease where the bile ducts are inflamed.)
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Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC: a chronic disease in which the liver is getting damaged slowly and this can lead to a liver failure)
Cirrhosis Types
Liver cirrhosis can be divided into 3 types, each type has its own severity and causes that are different from the others.
Decompensated Cirrhosis
Decompensated cirrhosis is one of the severe stages of liver disease. The patient who reaches this stage of cirrhosis is near liver failure. Decompensated cirrhosis is caused by various reasons, mostly by continued heavy alcohol consumption, chronic infection of hepatitis b or c and excessive fatty liver. The well-known symptoms of this cirrhosis disease are bloating abdomen, swelling up legs and jaundice, etc.
Alcoholic Cirrhosis
Alcoholic cirrhosis is also a severe disease in the liver. It is caused by the excessive consumption of alcohol and the liver cannot cope with it for years. Alcoholic cirrhosis implies that the liver of the patient did not function normally, which can lead to liver failure in the future if there is no treatment.
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Primary biliary cirrhosis or PBC is the liver disease caused by damage from an unintentional attack of the immune system to bile ducts. The bile will form on the liver as it is injured and lead the liver damaged to cirrhosis. As far as the research, the cause of immune system mistaken is still vague and unidentified.
Cirrhosis Stages
Cirrhosis is known as a progressive disease that can take several years to develop the damage progresses from mild to severe. The disease can be classified into 4 cirrhosis stages.
1st stage: Steatosis
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There is inflammation in the liver.
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Because of inflammation, it causes abdominal pain as a first symptom.
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The inflammation can grow more and it will cause damage to the liver.
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In the 1st stage, the inflammation and other symptoms can be cured in order to prevent liver cirrhosis from going to the 2nd stage.
2nd stage: Liver scarring (fibrosis) due to chronic inflammation
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In this stage, the symptom begins to get worse because the inflammation will start to damage the liver tissue and it decreases the efficiency of the liver function.
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The scarring that happened will also reduce or obstruct the efficiency of the hepatic blood flow.
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In this 2nd stage, the symptom can still be recovered in order to delay the cirrhosis progression.
3rd stage: Cirrhosis
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This stage of cirrhosis is a severe stage where the liver is fatally scarred.
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There will be symptoms showing due to the 3rd stage, such as jaundice, tiredness, loss of appetite, weight and muscle mass, etc.
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With the amount of severe scarring in the liver, it will cause the blood flow to be unable to access the portal vein and go into the spleen instead which is more problematic.
4th stage: Liver failure
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This stage is the most severe stage of cirrhosis. The liver is unable to work properly as usual and also it cannot heal or fix itself anymore. As everyone knows, the liver is the organ that can convert toxic substances into non-toxic or less toxic substances. Thus, all the toxins will accumulate in the liver and cause fatal symptoms that can even lead to death. So, medical treatment is very necessary for those who face the 4th stage.
Cirrhosis Symptoms
The signs of cirrhosis always show after it reaches the late phases, the damage to the liver might be around 80%. These are some of the symptoms that refer to cirrhosis disease.
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Oedema on your ankles, legs and feet
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Jaundice
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Ascites or fluid accumulation in the abdomen
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Spider angioma or the spider-like blood vessel
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Hepatic encephalopathy or the abnormalities that affect the ability to speak or interact.
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These are the signs that the liver is already damaged to the phase of cirrhosis. If there is no treatment or a change of lifestyle, it can worsen and lead to liver failure.
Diagnosing Cirrhosis
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Blood test: It will show the health condition of the patient and how the efficiency of the organ. The blood test can even check if there is an infection or not.
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Scanning: This me
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thod can be performed through the ultrasound scan or the transient elastography scan (Fibro scan).
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Liver biopsy: This method requires tissue sampling, it directly uses the needle to take the tissues from the area of the liver for examination.
Treatment for Cirrhosis
Nowadays, cirrhosis still cannot be completely cure. As this article has mentioned before, cirrhosis is the late stage of liver disease. The best thing for cirrhosis treatment is to slow it down. If there is an infection from hepatitis c, cure it first to prevent the worsening condition. Next, change your drinking habits, continuing to consume alcohol will only make it worse. The last way is to transplant the liver, even if it is not the solution for cirrhosis directly.
Cirrhosis Complications
There are many complications of cirrhosis.
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Jaundice: Jaundice is a liver disease caused by a large amount of bilirubin in the blood. People with jaundice will have yellow eyes and skin.
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Infection: Because of cirrhosis, the infection can be very risky and lead to inflammation, such as ascites.
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Malnutrition: Cirrhosis causes the metabolic rate of the body to be inefficient and this leads to malnutrition.
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Bleeding: The blood vessel can burst because there is portal hypertension in which the vessel will enlarge until it bursts.
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Hepatic encephalopathy: This complication is caused by the scarred liver and it is severely damaged, so the liver is unable to remove toxins.
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Portal hypertension: This is the complication where there is high blood pressure because cirrhosis obstructs the blood flow in the liver.
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Swelling: The fluid will be accumulated in the area of the legs and abdomen because the liver decreases the albumin.
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Splenomegaly: It is a complication where the spleen is getting bigger because the blood cannot flow through the portal vein (portal hypertension).
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Bone disease: Cirrhosis can cause pain and fracture in bones and joints.
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Acute-on-chronic cirrhosis: Chronic cirrhosis can cause organ failure in many areas of the body.
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Risk of liver cancer: Most people with cancer often have a history of cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis Prevention
To prevent liver cirrhosis, the thing that needs to be focused is what you consume, change your habits and how to have a healthy liver.
What you consume:
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Limiting your alcohol consumption is one way to prevent liver cirrhosis.
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Balancing your meal is recommended, cut the salt and adding more vegetables, will help to diet and prevent other liver diseases.
Change your habits:
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Exercise regularly and follow the appointment for the health check. This process will maintain your health.
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Consult your health maintenance with the physicians in case you have obesity or diabetes. They will set the proper program for you.
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No smoking.
How to have a healthy liver:
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Refrain from risky behaviour that will lead to infection of the liver such as no condom sex or illegal drug injection through the same needle.
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Prevent the infection from hepatitis b by being vaccinated.
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Consult with the physician before you take any medication if you have liver disease.
Cirrhosis FAQ
Is cirrhosis a hereditary disease?
Cirrhosis is not a hereditary disease by itself. However, some hereditary diseases that pass from the father or mother to their children such as diabetes or obesity can cause liver disease that leads to cirrhosis.
Is cirrhosis cancer?
Cirrhosis is not cancer but it can lead to liver cancer in the future. The liver disease will lead to cirrhosis and will increase the possibility of developing liver cancer.
Cirrhosis Conclusion
Liver cirrhosis is caused by the damage from various reasons. Heavy drinking habits for years, infection by hepatitis b and c, a fatty liver or even abnormality by the immune system, can all affect the liver. The damage from these liver diseases leads to cirrhosis, which has no proper treatment, only delaying it is all the physicians can do for their patients. The best way more than transplanting the liver is to change the lifestyle, to prevent cirrhosis.
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