Liver Disease Is A Broad Term Describing Any Number Of Diseases Affecting The Liver

The liver is considered to be the largest organs in the human body and is essential to the proper functioning of the body. The liver synthesizes acids, proteins, bile, and cholesterol. It helps to maintain a balance of many nutrients and chemicals like glucose, fat, cholesterol, vitamins, and hormones and aids in the excretion of many waste products such as bilirubin, cholesterol, poison, and drugs. The disease of liver is thus a serious condition that can be cured if it is cared for in the early stages.

Being a large part of the body, the liver can cope with little damages. If the damage or disorder is left untreated, it can worsen the condition of the liver and prevent it from functioning. Severe injury to the liver can result in liver failure and death. Some of the ailments that can lead to death from liver disease are alcoholism, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and viral hepatitis. There are normally four stages for any malfunction of liver; inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer. The liver can gradually get inflamed due to certain conditions, use of excess alcohol and certain chemicals. The diseased conditions that can cause liver inflammation are Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Autoimmune Hepatitis, and Wilson's disease. Extensive use of alcohol also causes inflammation of the liver. Some of the drugs and environmental pollutants may badly affect the liver. Inflammation in the liver is characterized by redness, swelling, heat and possible pain in the liver.

The second stage of liver ailment is fibrosis or scar tissues. After the liver has been diseased or inflamed for a long period, connective tissues of the liver accumulate. At this condition the liver functions slowly degrade. The third stage of liver disorder is called cirrhosis. When liver has been damaged due to sever inflammation and fibrosis, it does not function properly. Accumulation of scar tissues in the area blocks blood flow through the liver, preventing it from functioning normally. Some of the diseased symptoms of end stage cirrhosis are edema, bruising and bleeding, jaundice, gallstones, and an increase of toxins in the blood, enlarged blood vessels, and diabetes. If the disease of liver is not treated in the earlier three stages, cancer may develop. Liver cancer which is also known as hepatocellular carcinoma, affects approximately 4% of patients with cirrhosis. A complete liver transplant is one of the options for treating liver cancer.

Prolonged use of excess alcohol can cause a variety of mental and physical conditions. Consumption of heavy alcohol affects the liver and other organs. There are several stages of alcoholic liver disease. A fatty liver normally develops in heavy drinkers. The functions of liver do not deteriorate at this stage and this condition can be reversed if alcohol is not consumed. Another stage of the disease is alcoholic hepatitis where the patient may develop jaundice. The effects of this can be reversed at this stage if further consumption of alcohol is stopped and treatment is taken. The final stage of the disease is cirrhosis of the liver, which is irreversible and severely damages the liver.

• John Palsson
• 26/01/2009, 6:59 PM
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