Cirrhosis is the liver disease in which the liver is scarred severely and it is unable to function efficiently. This disease is caused by one of the well-known causes, such as, excessive consumption of alcohol.
Cirrhosis Is
Cirrhosis is a chronic, late-stage liver disease developed from fibrosis where the liver tissue is damaged and replaced with permanent scarring. This disease actually displays the inflammation of the liver tissue and results in the loss and scarring of hepatocytes. Cirrhosis’s symptoms are caused by many causes and one of the well-known causes is the excessive consumption of alcohol. This scarring liver disease is able to prevent the working function of the liver to be inefficient because the liver will not repair itself properly, and this problem can lead to liver failure or even life threatening.
Is Cirrhosis Cancer?
Cirrhosis is not cancer. However, liver cirrhosis has a high risk of having cancer because most people with cancer normally have cirrhosis. This conclusion can be assumed that if anyone with cirrhosis or chance of getting cirrhosis will increase the chance of having cancer.
Symptoms of Cirrhosis
In the beginning, cirrhosis usually shows no sign of any symptoms. However, when the liver cirrhosis starts to get worse, there will be symptoms in the following lists occurred and presented:
- Nausea
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Jaundice (skin and eyes are turning yellow)
- Itchiness of skin
- Redness around palms area
- Edema (the body being swollen)
- Easily bruising or bleeding
- Loss of appetite
- Ascites (the accumulation of fluid in abdomen)
- Hepatic encephalopathy (anxiety, confusion, lethargy, tiredness)
- Spider angioma
- Absent of menstrual periods
- Gynecomastia (the breast enlargement in men)
- Testicular atrophy
Is Cirrhosis Life-Threatening?
Some people might think that having cirrhosis will threaten your life with a fatal condition as soon as you have it. To explain this idea, having cirrhosis will not show the symptoms immediately, but it will become a chronic disease that continuously damages your liver and affects its function until it causes liver failure which is the serious life-threatening condition of the cirrhosis.
How many Stages Does Cirrhosis Have
Cirrhosis is known as a progressive disease. It can take several years for cirrhosis to manifest and when it does, the damage will increase from mild to extensive stage. There are 4 distinct stages of liver cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis Stages I
- Inflammation has occurred in the liver at the first stage of cirrhosis.
- Abdominal discomfort is typically the initial sign of inflammation as the body attempts to fight the disease.
- The inflammation can worsen and harm the liver more if it does not get the treatment.
- The symptoms in the first stage can be treated in order to prevent or delay the development of the second stage of cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis Stages II
- As the inflammation starts to harm the liver tissue and reduces the effectiveness of the liver function, the symptom starts to worsen at this point.
- The scarring caused by the inflammation will also lessen the effectiveness of the hepatic blood flow.
- With the treatment, the liver will be able to recover and delay the cirrhosis progression.
Cirrhosis Stages III
- In this stage, the liver is fatally scarred at this point and causes the liver to be hard.
- The third stage will cause symptoms, such as nausea, jaundice, weight loss, and so on.
- Due to the severe scarring in the liver, blood flow will be prevented from entering the portal vein and instead will enter the spleen.
Cirrhosis Stages IV
- The most serious condition of cirrhosis is this one, the fourth stage. The liver is no longer able to function normally or to repair or heal itself. As everyone is aware, the liver is the organ that has the ability to change toxic substances into less toxic or non-toxic ones. As a result of this disease, all the toxins will build up in the liver and result in life-threatening symptoms that may even result in death.Therefore, for those who experience the fourth stage, medical care is absolutely essentia
Causes of Cirrhosis
There are many causes that can lead to cirrhosis.
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- The accumulation of fat in the liver
- The accumulation of copper in the liver (Wilson’s disease)
- Hepatitis B, C and D viruses
- Excessive absorption of iron (Hemochromatosis)
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Biliary atresia (A blockage in the bile ducts in infants)
- Alagille syndrome
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis (The inflammation and scarring of bile ducts)
- Galactosemia and GSD (A malfunction in the metabolism of carbohydrates)
- Cystic fibrosis
- Primary biliary cholangitis (A chronic disease in which the liver is getting damaged slowly)
How can Cirrhosis be Diagnosed
- Blood test: We can find out how your liver condition is with a quick blood test.
- Physical exam: To look for signs of chronic liver disease, the doctor will examine your physical and review your medical history.
- Imaging test: The doctor will use cutting-edge imaging methods in the following lists to assess how healthy your liver is.
- MRI scan
- Fibro scan
- CT scan
How is Cirrhosis Treated
Cirrhosis currently has no treatment that can completely cure liver cirrhosis. However, there are ways that can help prevent, control and delay the symptoms and complications of the disease. The best way to prevent the progression of cirrhosis is to treat the liver problem that happened because these problems can lead to cirrhosis, and the habit of drinking should be changed as well. There’s also a way for the late stage which is a liver transplant, this may be the only option for treatment if your liver is severely scarred.
Cirrhosis Prevention
By taking proper care of your liver, these steps will help you lower the risk of developing progress of cirrhosis.
- Refrain from alcohol drinking.
- Consume healthy food and maintain a healthy weight. This will help reduce the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can result in cirrhosis. In order to achieve that, you may eat a healthy diet and do regular exercise.
- Protect yourself from getting hepatitis. To prevent the infection in the liver, you should avoid the contact with an infected person, such as having sex without condom or contacting with infected person’s blood directly, and so on.
Cirrhosis Complications
Complications of cirrhosis are as follows:
- Splenomegaly is the condition where the spleen is enlarged because of infection or portal hypertension.
- Portal hypertension or high blood pressure of the veins in the liver because cirrhosis causes the liver’s normal blood flow to slow down, which raises pressure in the vein.
- Jaundice is the disease where the skin and eyes are turning yellow.
- Liver cancer is also a complication of cirrhosis because having cirrhosis increases a chance of cancer.
- The swelling of abdomen and legs because of the accumulation of fluid (edema and ascites).
- Bleeding
- Malnutrition is the condition where the body cannot process nutrients and cause tiredness.
- Bone disease is also caused by cirrhosis.
- Infection happens because cirrhosis makes the body having trouble fighting against the infection and later can lead to the serious infection.
Conclusion for Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a liver condition where the liver is severely scarred and unable to function properly. This disease can be caused by these several conditions, excessive alcohol drinking, hepatitis b and c viruses infection, a fatty liver, or even immune system abnormalities can all have an impact and damage the liver. There’s no efficient way of treating cirrhosis, but there’s a way to prevent the disease from getting worse which is altering your lifestyle.