Cirrhosis and Its Treatment
Cirrhosis – pathology developing in the liver. Healthy liver cells are deformed, causing scarring. It’s an irreversible and incurable condition. Scar tissue forces the organ to function improperly.
Liver cells are harmed in some illnesses, provoking inflammatory processes in them or their complete death. When cells are repaired, tissues are scarred, thus blocking the blood circulation. Consequently, the liver isn’t able to properly cleanse the organism of toxins and produce substances necessary for digestion.
Cirrhosis causes
Liver harm occurs due to certain conditions and background pathologies. It provokes cirrhosis. Additionally, experts identify several following reasons:
- constant abuse of alcoholic beverages;
- viral hepatitis;
- fat accumulation in the organ;
- excessive iron deposits;
- copper accumulation in the liver;
- pathology when the bile ducts are poorly formed;
- inherited disorders in metabolic system functioning;
- genetic digestive system disorders;
- hepatitis caused by immune system defects;
- infections;
- medication course: isoniazid and other meds.
There are several factors increasing liver cirrhosis risks:
- increased body weight or obesity;
- huge alcohol consumption on a regular basis;
- cirrhosis is mainly rooted in viral hepatitis.
Cirrhosis symptoms
Cirrhosis in liver manifests itself differently at its stages. The initial stage of pathology development is asymptomatic. If illness continues to progress, patients feel the following symptoms for liver cirrhosis.
- Unreasonable appetite loss.
- Nausea attacks.
- Strong rise in temperature.
- Sudden weight loss.
- Appearance of pale bruises on skin.
- Yellowish tint of eyes.
- Intense itching feeling on skin.
- Legs, especially ankles, begin to swell greatly.
- Urine becomes orange or brown.
- Blood discharges in feces.
- Short-term bouts of memory loss, mind confusion.
- Small vascular networks on the skin.
- In men, there’s a weakening of sexual desire, testicles wrinkling and a distinct increase in the mammary glands.
Cirrhosis diagnosis
First of all, doctors ask patients about the pathology presence in family anamnez, and about the patients’ addiction to alcohol. Cirrhosis diagnosis is performed by the following methods.
- General medical examination to detect blood vessels networks, yellowing of eyes, bruises, soft formations in the stomach, etc.
- Complete blood test – identifying indicators characteristic of reduced blood clotting, determining infection in the organism and other defects.
- Testing for viral hepatitis of B and C groups.
- CT and ultrasound of the abdominal cavity – detection of liver scar tissues.
- Liver tissue biopsy – determination of cirrhosis nature and development stage; verification of cancerous nature of cells.
Cirrhosis treatment
Cirrhosis in the liver is incurable. Damage caused to the liver by pathology is irreversible. Depending on the stage, certain measures are taken to prevent worsening:
- complete rejection of alcohol if its excessive use led to cirrhosis – treatment for alcohol dependence;
- taking meds aimed at treating hepatitis B and C;
- diet correction – junk food and alcohol rejection: only high-quality products and a great amount of vitamins;
- regular exercises, helping improve blood flow and organs oxygenation;
- meds therapy aimed at reducing symptoms, preventing complications and restoring the bile ducts.
Among others, there are certain medications allowing patients to act directly on the scar tissue, preventing the condition from worsening.
