Liver Cirrhosis Treatment In India
A French Chest specialist by the of Rene Laennec is most famously known for having invented the stethoscope. However, he also had a keen interest in pathology and gave the name ‘ Cirrhosis ‘ to a chronic scarring of the liver due a variety of causes. Hence Liver Cirrhosis is also called Laennec’s Cirrhosis.
Long standing liver damage due to alcohol, viruses like Hepatitis B or C or a variety of reasons may lead to Liver Cirrhosis. This may lead to many problems :
However, if it starts causing problems which the patient can feel , it has usually become Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis. With Decompensated disease, patients may be sufferng from one or more of the following :
Hepatic Encephalopathy ( HE ) means the toxins in the blood are not being filtered by the liver and are reaching the brain. One becomes forgetful, sleepy, disoriented or unconscious. This is quite sinister. Hepato Renal Syndrome ( HRS ) implies that long standing liver disease is temporarily affecting the functioning of the kidneys.
The spectrum of problems caused due to Liver Cirrhosis is often referred to as Chronic Liver Disease( CLD ) or End Stage Liver Disease ( ESLD ). The severity of CLD or ESLD may be assessed by the Child Pugh Turcottee ( CTP ) score or simply the Child score. Liver Cirrhosis is a condition where your normal healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue. This process of scarring is slow and usually happens over many years, often decades.
Cirrhosis is the result of a number of possible reasons / diseases :
The scar tissue makes the liver nodular ( Lumpy ) and hard; slowly the organ begins to fail. The liver is unable to produce the proteins like albumin . The scar tissue also blocks the smooth flow of blood through the liver. This builds up pressure in the portal vein leading to back pressure effects ( Portal hypertension ) .
There’s no cure for cirrhosis except a liver transplant, but you can often slow down the process by treating whatever is causing it.
Stages of Cirrhosis
There are two main stages —
Compensated Cirrhosis
In compensated cirrhosis, you won’t have any symptoms. There are still enough healthy liver cells to meet your body’s needs. They compensate, or make up for, the damaged cells and scarred tissue. If you don’t get treatment for the cause of your cirrhosis, it’ll get worse and over time, the healthy liver cells won’t be able to keep up. Nor will your liver be able to get rid of toxic substances in your body like ammonia.
Decompensated cirrhosis
Decompensated cirrhosis causes symptoms. It can lead to problems like these: