Mitch, “Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver disease and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism” (“Cirrhosis,” n.d.). Any type of scarring results from the remodeling process that the body does in order to help repair itself. This process can be harsh on organs and thus cause damage resulting in decreased function. The same thing happens to the liver from chronic inflammation. The damage that this inflammation creates is more times than not irreversible. Those with liver cirrhosis may have jaundice of the skin and eyes. There are many reasons why a patient may present with jaundice however; hepatic jaundice is pertinent to the liver. It occurs because heme, a molecule in …show more content…
This yellow like substance can accumulate in the body since heme cannot break it down and cause the yellow discoloration that is often seen with a patient who is suffering from cirrhosis. A liver panel test should be done to determine how well the liver is functioning. Certain medications can also cause liver damage. For example, Tylenol in large doses and frequent use can cause this and in a relatively short period of time. “However, taking too much acetaminophen at once, or taking a high dose of acetaminophen continuously over several days can cause damage to the liver” (“Medications,” n.d.).. “Healthy individuals should not take more than 1,000 mg of acetaminophen per dose, and should not take more than 3,000 mg in one day” (“Medications,” n.d.). Educating patients on how to prevent liver damage when taking Tylenol should be done to prevent future illnesses. Other medications such as those that treat cholesterol as well as some supplements and herbs should be carefully monitored. “Some of the natural products known to be toxic to the liver include chaparral, comfrey tea, kava, skullcap, and Yohimbe, but there are others” (“Medications,” n.d.). Iron and vitamin A are known to be toxic to the liver and should not be taken unless there is some type of
•The forty five year old patient is diagnosed with the progressive cirrhosis inflaming the liver along with the parenchymal cells. The plain symptoms is manifested primarily because of the augmentation of edema internally in the lower abdomen.
You look in the mirror and see that your skin and eyes seem a yellowish color, your legs and ankles are swollen, you have abdominal pain and swelling, your skin is also itchy, you have dark urine, and notice that your stool is a pale color. What do these symptoms mean? These are symptoms of damage to the liver. There are many ways to damage your liver like the use of alcohol, but a way you may not be aware of is the use of medication. Some medications when used repeatedly can cause liver damage, such as acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol.
Figure 2 Cirrhosis of the liver in relation to alcohol consumption. (Publication in Parliament 2010)
Situations affecting the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder can affect the ability of our body to produce enzymes that help support digestion. Hepatitis, is when the liver becomes inflamed and possibly loses its ability to function. (Kids Health) There are different types of Hepatitis, such as hepatitis A, B, or C, and are very contagious and depending on how serious the liver is damaged, it may require hospitalization– however, mild cases of hepatitis A can be treated at home (Kids Health).
This case study is about Abdul Chidiac, a 51 year old male, married with 4 children. He had a medical history of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and cirrhosis with two admissions in the last six months. He is a smoker and drinks beer, 5-6 bottles per day. As Carithers & McClain (2010) explained the patient’s medical history is another indicator of the risk for cirrhosis; the progression to cirrhosis is adaptable and may take time over weeks or many years. Cirrhosis is a liver disease characterized by permanent scarring of the liver that interferes with its normal functions including alcoholism. Most people who drink large amounts of alcohol cause harm to the liver in some way (Heidelbaugh & Bruderly, 2006). The cause of cirrhosis is not yet known, but the connection between cirrhosis and excessive alcohol ingestion is established (Jenkins & Johnson, 2010). Common causes of cirrhosis include: alcohol abuse, hepatitis B infection, hepatitis C infection and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (Schuppan & Afdhal, 2008).
Autoimmune hepatitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by periportal inflammation, elevated immunoglobulins, autoantibodies, and a dramatic response to immunosuppression. Autoimmune hepatitis occurs when the body's immune system, which ordinarily attacks viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, instead targets the liver. This attack on your liver can lead to chronic inflammation and serious damage to liver cells. Just why the body turns against itself is unclear, but researchers think autoimmune hepatitis could be caused by the interaction of genes controlling immune-system function and exposure to particular viruses or drugs. Autoimmune hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. Cirrhosis occurs when scar tissue replaces
Like many of the organs in our body, the liver plays a vital role and function in our body, which in turn helps keep our bodies nice and healthy. The liver is the second largest organ in our body, located just underneath the rib cage on the right side. Some of the liver’s functions include: producing bile, producing proteins, metabolizing nutrients, removing potentially toxic byproducts of certain medications, and helping our body fight infection by removing bacteria from the blood. Although the liver can carry out its necessary functions in its healthy state, there is a disease which causes damage to the liver called, liver cirrhosis. It is important to learn and educate ourselves on the many aspects
This can be life threating. The liver usually has to go through a few stages before reaching such a life threating state. Many other diseases will develop into cirrhosis if not treated in time. For example fatty liver is disease that can develop into hepatitis or cirrhosis. This disease is most commonly developed by through acute alcohol abuse or substance abuse. This disease can be reversible with absence before developing into cirrhosis, but 20% of heavy users will fail to stay absent and develop cirrhosis. A second disease you might develop before getting to cirrhosis is hepatitis A, B, or C an infection of the liver can develop into cirrhosis. These viruses cause few symptoms that most of the time they go unnoticed developing into a life threating stage. All these can occur at the same time, but if cirrhosis is reached and the cells of the liver are damaged and unable to repair themselves and being to die off causing a scar to form creating blood clots. If this happens poison and waste will accumulate and if this continues for a long period of time it will lead to a hepatic encephalopathy, a condition in the brain causing confusion, change in behavior and worst case scenario a coma. A way to detect cirrhosis would include ruining some blood work, biopsy, an ultrasound, or a CT scan. If cirrhosis is detected in the liver there will be nothing that will be able to be done and as of now there aren’t any known cures. However; there are treatments available that can delay its progress. For cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse, the person must stop drinking to stop cirrhosis from advancing. A doctor most commonly will prescribe steroids or antiviral drugs to reduce liver cells from being injured and progress to cirrhosis. Cirrhosis can be reversed depending on how the person follows their treatment plan. If they follow the plan they
The patient first visited his physician with malaise that had worsened during the last months and we can see from his laboratory results that the underlying cause for the discomfort was due to HCV. He had a known history of drug addiction which suggests the cause of contraction was through the sharing of unsterilized needles resulting in the blood-to-blood contact of another individual with the virus. He had signs of mild jaundice, a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, whites of the eye and other mucous membranes due to high blood bilirubin (Tandon et al., 2015), which aided in the diagnosis of hepatitis as jaundice is a symptom of acute hepatitis.
Hepatitis B is a contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B can be acute or chronic. Every type of hepatitis can increase your risk of liver scarring and liver failure.
Like Pancreatic cancer, “Liver cancer is very vague in the early stages and the symptoms may go unnoticed” for a while. Liver cancer can cause symptoms which include: dark urine, confusion and increased sleepiness, weakness, loss of appetite, yellowing of the skin, unexplained weight loss and more,” (LaRusso-c 2). A person experiencing these symptoms may have to get the “following tests for a proper diagnosis including blood tests, a biopsy, laparoscopy. They may also have images take with an Angiogram, MRI scan, CT scan, or X-Rays,” (LaRusso-c 3) “The doctor will determine the stage of liver cancer the person has by completing a physical exam and combining all of the test results,” (LaRusso-c 3). The treatment received for Liver cancer depends on the stage of cancer the doctor determines. Unlike other cancers the “surgery is the only procedure used to try to cure liver cancer,” (LaRusso-c 3). To help reduce the chance of getting liver cancer people should be aware of the following risk factors: “infection with the hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus, infection with HIV, Cirrhosis of the liver, Alcohol use disorder, malnutrition, obesity, and more,” (LaRusso-c 1). In the case of Liver cancer there are some precautions that can be taken to reduce the chance of getting it. These precautions include: “always using a clean needle if needles are used to inject
There are many different causes of liver damage. These can be grouped into various categories depending on the timing of the insult and the types of cells most severely affected. As the nature of injury often dictates patient outcome, these patterns of injury have important clinical implications.
This occurs because of the damage that the disease does to the liver. As the organ becomes inflamed, it cannot effectively remove waste from the body anymore. So the skin will start to take on a yellow hue as well. Then, other more disturbing symptoms will begin, such as vomiting, nausea, and a loss of appetite. The liver damage will also lead to discoloration of the stools, which can be identified by their sudden white or pale yellow appearance. If the disease is left to progress, it will attack other parts of the body, which leads to severe fatigue, swollen blood vessels, and even internal
Vicodin is a mix of hydrocodone and acetaminophen, an NSAID pain reliever. Aside from the euphoric and addictive effects of hydrocodone, there is potential for liver damage to occur. There is about half a gram of acetaminophen in each pill, and if a person begins to abuse the drug; two to four grams of acetaminophen in a day can start to cause liver problems and also problems urinating. A person taking too much of the drug can slip into a coma, have seizures or begin having serious convulsive
In conclusion, liver is vascular organ of body and perform different function. Liver should be free from fats and injuries, different types of drugs are used in liver disease and still some research are going on different drugs and hormones but these researches were performed on limited number of patients because of different side effects and increased mortality rate. More researches and clinical guidelines should be performed on combination therapy of different drugs such as pentoxifylline, vitamin E, steroids and Ursodeoxycholic acid and this will help that how and in which way these drugs should be used in combination in order to prevent liver diseases. The government should provide funds for such types of research work in order to encourage them to eradicate different types of liver diseases.