Living With Healthy Hunger Health Blog
When cells are injured or damaged and die off, usually that dead tissue that was previously
full of living cells become fibrotic, meaning it becomes thickened with heaps and heaps of protein and forms scar tissue. When faced with such a challenge, it is helpful to know that the liver cirrhosis treatment in Kerala, is touted to be one of the most efficient locations in India for treatment, as it provides the best treatment under the supervision of specialized doctors while maintaining cost efficiency.
When your liver is continuously required to digest alcohol, as in alcoholic liver disease, or when your body is under a prolonged viral onslaught, as in HBV, or whenever anything else similar occurs, that causes a long-term or chronic state of the liver cell or hepatocyte destruction and inflammation, the liver can become seriously scarred and damaged to the point where it’s no longer reversible, at which point it becomes fibrotic and in the liver, we call this process cirrhosis. Because it is usually irreversible, cirrhosis is often referred to as “end-stage” or “late-stage” liver damage. Liver Cirrhosis can cause the following issues-
- When liver cells are injured, they come together and form what is called regenerative nodules, like colonies of living liver cells. These are classic signs of cirrhosis and are the reason a cirrhotic liver is bumpier than a smooth, healthy liver. Also, with cirrhotic liver tissue, fibrotic tissue and collagen are seen in between these clumps of cells or nodules. The perisinusoidal area, a region between the sinusoid and the hepatocyte known as the fibrotic process, is mediated by unique cells known as stellate cells.
- The stellate cells are triggered when the liver cells are continuously damaged, which causes them to continuously generate substances that cause fibrosis and collagen. And this is when cirrhosis-related problems first appear. As the central veins and sinusoids become compressed and push on the fluid inside, their pressure starts to build up, leading to intra-sinusoidal (or portal) hypertension, which is this higher pressure in the portal veins. Therefore, cirrhosis leads to excess peritoneal fluid, a condition called ascites and can result in other complications like congestive splenomegaly and hypersplenism, where the spleen becomes enlarged because of all this fluid and blood can’t get into the liver and backs up into the spleen.
- The circulatory system starts diverting blood away from the liver because of the high liver pressures, this is known as a portosystemic shunt. Blood flow follows the path of minimum resistance and shunts away from the portal system and towards the systemic system of circulation. These changes in portal flow ultimately trigger renal vasoconstriction, so increased resistance in the renal circulation decreases blood flow through the kidneys, leading to decreased filtration hepatorenal failure, where kidney failure follows liver failure.
- As these basic liver functional units reduce, the liver is unable to perform detoxification. When the liver isn’t detoxifying your blood, these toxins can get into the brain and start causing mental deficits, a condition known as hepatic encephalopathy. This can lead to asterixis, which is trembling or jerky hands when outstretched, and even a coma.
- Since the liver plays a big role in metabolizing estrogen into inactive metabolites that can be removed from the blood and excreted, patients, can experience complications due to increased estrogen in the blood, like gynecomastia, spiders angioma, and palmar erythema.
- Since the liver usually conjugates bilirubin, increased unconjugated bilirubin in the blood from a less-functional liver can lead to jaundice. A decrease in the amount of albumin in the blood, or hypoalbuminemia, can occur if the liver is not working properly, which is another crucial task of the liver.
- Finally, the liver helps in making clotting factors or proteins that help coagulate your blood, so when these coagulation factors are not, you can develop issues related to your ability to coagulate blood, which you need to stop blood loss after an injury.
Treatment- For diagnosis, the “gold standard” is a liver biopsy, taking a tiny sample of the liver tissue to examine under a microscope. Common lab findings include elevated serum bilirubin, as well as elevated liver enzymes like aspartate aminotransferase, (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), where AST is usually more elevated than ALT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, and thrombocytopenia, or low platelet count. As to treatment, generally, the scarring in cirrhosis is irreversible, so firstly it’s important to prevent continued liver damage by identifying the underlying cause and treating that, for example stopping alcohol consumption or antiviral treatment for those with hepatitis C. In initial conditions, salt intake is prohibited and medicines such as spironolactone or furosemide are given. These medicines are usually given with antibiotics. Beta-blockers in case of gastric varices. A liver transplant might be needed with advanced cirrhosis, though, where the liver stops functioning.
