Liver Cirrhosis – What is it, Symptoms and Treatments!

Liver Cirrhosis – What is it, Symptoms and Treatments of this liver disease . In addition, Liver Cirrhosis  is the end result of years of aggression to the liver, which causes the replacement of normal liver tissue by nodules and fibrous tissue. It is a healing process and happens due to the action of several aggressive elements.

As a result, the organ loses its functional specificity, because the fibrous tissue does not perform any physiological function. The term cirrhosis, without adjectives, is generally used to designate fibrosis of the liver because this is by far the most common type of cirrhosis.

Liver cirrhosis arises due to a chronic and progressive process of inflammation, which results in diffuse fibrosis, the formation of nodules, and often, cell necrosis. This process strangles the circulation of blood that reaches the liver through the portal vein (large venous trunk that drains blood from the digestive system to the liver ), causing an increase in pressure inside this vein and progressive liver failure that can end in total liver failure .

Causes of Cirrhosis of the Liver: Alcoholis just the most well-known cause of Cirrhosis of the Liver , but any inflammation that affects the liver can lead to it. Thus, the different forms of hepatitis, viral or not, metabolic diseases, vascular disorders, cholangitis, congestive heart failure, congenital insufficiency of intrahepatic ducts, etc., can lead to this condition.

There is also cryptogenic cirrhosis of unknown cause. Liver Cirrhosis is considered a terminal disease of the liver and several different diseases converge to it, leading to complications resulting from the destruction of its cells, alteration of its structure and the chronic inflammatory process.

Symptoms of Cirrhosis of the Liver : Symptoms of  Cirrhosis of the Liver which is the degeneration of the liver can include:

• Weakness;
• Lack of appetite;
• Weight loss for no apparent reason;
• Yellow skin and eyes;
• Itching all over the body;
• Swollen abdomen;
• Vomiting blood due to bleeding from esophageal varices;
• Renal insufficiency;
• Malnutrition, in advanced cases;
• Muscle atrophy;
• Redness of the palms;
• Flexion of the fingers;
• Vascular spiders: spider-shaped veins under the skin;
• Breast enlargement in men;
• Enlargement of the salivary glands located at the level of the cheeks;
• testicular atrophy;
• Peripheral neuropathy which is the disturbance of the nervous system anointings.

Liver Cirrhosis Treatments: There is no specific treatment for Liver Cirrhosis . As a consequence of several different pathologies, the treatment aims to stop the progression of these diseases, which, in some cases, can also lead to partial reversal of the degree of Liver Cirrhosis and portal hypertension.

In addition to treating the underlying disease, patients with cirrhosis of the liver may have several common complications that must be investigated and treated properly, including bleeding from esophageal varices, ascites (and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis), malnutrition, hepatic encephalopathy and the hepatocarcinoma.

Several treatments have been tried to specifically reverse the degree of fibrosis in cirrhosis, but none with real effectiveness so far. Currently, the most promising field is the study of liver cells , which are involved in the healing process and could reverse the same.

Studies are also being carried out for the use of stem cells, which could differentiate into hepatocytes and improve liver function , but the results are still not encouraging and this type of treatment is not carried out outside of research.

The only definitive treatment for Liver Cirrhosis is liver  transplantation , where the cirrhotic liver is replaced (with a whole liver , in the case of a deceased donor, or part of it, in the case of a living transplant). This treatment (now regulated by a new ordinance), has an increasing success rate with the improvement of the surgical technique and drugs involved.