There are several treatments used to prevent or stop the bleeding, such as medicines and fitting a band around the veins endoscopic variceal band ligation. Find out more about the treatments for oesophageal and gastric varices from The British Liver Trust. A build-up of fluid in your tummy area ascites or legs and ankles peripheral oedema is a common complication when cirrhosis progresses.
The main treatments are cutting out salt from your diet and taking a type of medicine called a diuretic, such as spironolactone or furosemide. If the fluid in your tummy becomes infected, you may need antibiotics. In severe cases, you may need to have the fluid drained from your tummy area with a tube.
Cirrhosis can sometimes cause problems with your brain function encephalopathy. Symptoms include confusion, feeling sleepy, and problems concentrating. This happens because the liver is no longer able to clear toxins properly. The main treatment for encephalopathy is lactulose syrup. This acts as a laxative and helps clear toxins from your body. You may also need to take an antibiotic called rifaximin, to prevent infection. Cirrhosis can affect your liver's ability to make your blood clot, which means there's a chance of severe bleeding if you cut yourself or have an operation or dental work.
You may be given medicines, or a blood product called plasma , to prevent or treat bleeding. Talk to your doctor about your condition and the risk of bleeding before having an operation, including any dental work. If cirrhosis progresses and your liver is severely damaged, a liver transplant may be the only treatment option.
This is a major operation that involves removing your diseased liver and replacing it with a healthy liver from a donor. You will not be able to have a liver transplant if cirrhosis was caused by alcohol-related liver disease and you continue to drink alcohol.
Find out more about a liver transplant from the British Liver Trust. Diabetes may get worse if you have type 2 diabetes and develop cirrhosis.
Reliability of Test Scores This table shows liver diseases, ranges of fibrosis results, and the matching fibrosis score. The ranges of fibrosis results in the table are estimates. Your actual fibrosis score may not match the fibrosis score in the table. If you have more than one liver disease you may not be able to use this table. Your fibrosis result may be overestimated if you have liver inflammation caused by recent illness or drinking alcohol, benign or cancerous tumors in your liver, or liver congestion when liver is too full of blood or other fluids.
Cirrhosis is where your liver is severely scarred and permanently damaged. While the word cirrhosis is most commonly heard when people discuss alcohol-induced liver disease , cirrhosis is caused by many forms of liver disease.
While fibrosis is reversible there is a point where the damage becomes too great and the liver cannot repair itself. There is no treatment that can cure cirrhosis. If possible, treating the underlying cause of cirrhosis may keep your cirrhosis from getting worse and help prevent liver failure.
Successful treatment may slowly improve some of your liver scarring. It is important to avoid things that could damage your liver further like alcohol, certain medications and fatty food. Treatment for someone with cirrhosis often means managing the symptoms of cirrhosis and preventing further damage to avoid liver failure. Doctors treat liver failure with a liver transplant. Someone with cirrhosis is at a very high risk of developing liver cancer. It is very important to receive routine liver cancer surveillance if you have cirrhosis; most people who develop liver cancer have evidence of cirrhosis.
Doctors also treat liver cancer with a transplant. It is important to note, people often live with cirrhosis for a long time before the option of liver transplant is discussed.
There is a big difference between liver functioning and disease progression. Our livers are resilient, continuing to function even when they become severely scarred. Because of this, some people may not experience symptoms or have elevated liver enzyme tests even though their liver is damaged. It is important to talk to your doctor about your risks for liver disease so you can receive imaging tests that may help diagnosis liver damage.
Compensated Cirrhosis v. Decompensated Cirrhosis Cirrhosis is often categorized as either compensated or decompensated. Their symptoms of the disease may be mild or nonexistent even though the liver is severely scarred.
Someone with decompensated cirrhosis will feel and appear sick as their liver is struggling to function. The liver has two sources that supply blood to the liver — the hepatic artery and the hepatic portal vein.
The hepatic artery brings oxygen-rich blood into the liver. Blood coming from our digestive system enters the liver through the hepatic portal vein carrying nutrients, medications, or toxins. When someone has decompensated cirrhosis the scar tissue blocks the blood meant to flow through the portal vein causing an increase of pressure known as portal hypertension.
The blood unable to enter the liver must find new routes; because the blood is not entering the liver, nutrients, toxins and more from the digestive system does not get properly filtered. Portal hypertension is responsible for symptoms like varices , ascites and encephalopathy. Hepatorenal syndrome can also occur when someone has decompensated cirrhosis. The increased pressure of portal hypertension causes fluid to seep out and pool in the abdominal cavity. This is called ascites. When large amounts of fluid gather in the belly it can lead to swelling and pain and be very uncomfortable.
Ascites can become infected, which can greatly impact the function of your kidneys, and can even be fatal. Ammonia is a waste product made when our body digests protein. The liver processes the ammonia, breaks it down to something called urea, and sends it to our kidneys to be released in urine.
When someone has cirrhosis, ammonia is not eliminated, builds up, travels to the brain, and causes confusion, disorientation, coma, and even death. This is hepatic encephalopathy. Hepatic Encephalopathy or HE can be managed with medications that are taken regularly.
One of these medications tries to eliminate extra ammonia through increasing the number of bowel movements. The other common medication is a powerful antibiotic which eliminates the bacteria in your digestive system responsible for creating the ammonia. Learn more about hepatic encephalopathy in our HE Resource Center.
The liver is the largest filter in the body but works closely with our kidneys to eliminate waste from our bodies. When someone has cirrhosis, they may develop a serious complication where their kidneys begin to progressively fail. This is called hepatorenal syndrome. Our red blood cells have a substance in them called hemoglobin which is responsible for carrying oxygen. Bilirubin is a yellow chemical found in hemoglobin. Your body builds new cells to replace broken down red blood cells and the old ones are processed in the liver.
The breakdown of the old cells releases bilirubin. A healthy liver processes bilirubin out of the body. If the liver cannot successfully do this function, bilirubin builds up in the body and your skin or the whites or your eyes may look yellow. This is called jaundice. Jaundice does not only occur in people with cirrhosis. Many healthy babies have jaundice during the first week of life. Jaundice can also be due to blood diseases, genetic conditions, blockages of bile ducts, infections like hepatitis A , and even some medications.
When blood cannot flow through the portal vein into the liver it is forced to find new pathways, such as through the veins in the stomach and esophagus. These enlarged veins are called varices. These small veins are not meant to carry so much blood. When overloaded with blood, these veins can balloon, leak blood or even rupture, causing life-threatening bleeding.
Signs of bleeding varices include:. Doctors can view these varices by inserting an endoscope a thin flexible tube through your mouth, down to your esophagus and stomach. Endoscopies are very important to avoid varices from bursting and bleeding. Doctors use endoscopies to check on the varices and, if needed, band them, or tie them off, to strangle the vein and keep them from bursting. Liver cancer is cancer that begins in the cells of your liver.
While several types of cancer can form in the liver, the most common type of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma , or HCC, which begins in the main type of liver cells hepatocytes. Liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
Over the last 30 years, rates of liver cancer have tripled in the United States. While most other common cancers have seen improved survival rates during this time period, liver cancer death rates have doubled.
It is very rare to develop HCC without first having cirrhosis. Because of this, when someone has been diagnosed with advanced fibrosis F3 or cirrhosis they should receive regular surveillance for liver cancer. Finding and diagnosing liver cancer as soon as possible is essential. Many liver diseases are chronic, meaning they last for years and may never go away. But even chronic liver diseases can usually be managed. Depending on the specific liver condition you have, your healthcare provider may recommend other dietary changes.
In some cases, you may need surgery to remove all or part of your liver. Generally, a liver transplant is only done when other options have failed. Many liver diseases are manageable if you catch them early.
Left untreated, however, they can cause permanent damage. If you have any symptoms of a liver problem or are at risk of developing one, make sure to check in with your healthcare provider for routine checkups and testing, if needed. The liver produces and clears cholesterol in the body. Learn how liver damage can affect cholesterol and what treatments you can explore. The liver is a powerhouse organ, performing a variety of tasks that are essential to maintaining good health.
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