Liver Cirrhosis Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Cure
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What Is Liver Cirrhosis?
Liver cirrhosis occurs when scar
tissue builds up inside the liver. Scarring happens because of damage to the
liver caused by alcohol abuse, hepatitis C infection, or autoimmune diseases.
Causes Of Liver Cirrhosis:
There are
many reasons, including:
1- Hepatitis
B or C viruses
2- fatty
liver
3- alcohol
addiction
4- Autoimmune
hepatitis
5- Use of
some medicines for a long time
Diagnosis of the degree of liver fibrosis:
What is a Fibroscan device?
It is a
device like a sonar device in shape that measures the percentage of fibers in
the liver and gives it degrees
F0 There is
no fiber in the liver (normal liver)
F1 is a
simple grade of liver fiber
F2 is a medium grade of liver fiber
F3 is a severe degree of liver fiber
F4 cirrhosis
stage
A modern
version of the Fibroscan device has appeared that can also measure the
percentage of fat in the liver and give it degrees as well
S0 There is
no fat in the liver (normal liver)
S1 is a
small percentage of liver fat
S2 is an
average percentage of liver fat
S3 is very
high in liver fat
What is the difference between cirrhosis and liver fibrosis?
cirrhosis is
one thing and liver fibers are another thing, meaning that the accumulation of
fibers leads to reaching the stage of cirrhosis of the liver F4.
Stages of F4 cirrhosis and their symptoms:
We can
divide F4 cirrhosis into two stages based on several indicators such as liver
function, ascites in the abdomen, or hepatic coma.
In the stage
of early fibrosis (compensated cirrhosis), in which the liver functions are
good and there is no ascites in the abdomen, hepatic coma, or yellowing of the
eyes, where the person is almost normal, he may only suffer from constant
fatigue or swelling of the feet or bruises in the body with any collision.
The stage of
late cirrhosis (decompensated cirrhosis), in which there is a deterioration in
liver function, ascites in the abdomen, recurrent coma, yellowing of the eyes,
and vomiting blood due to bleeding of esophageal varices.
What is the treatment for cirrhosis of the liver:
Treatment of Compensated cirrhosis:
Two basic
conditions must be present
First:
Knowing the cause of cirrhosis and treating it, for example, treating hepatitis
viruses or treating fatty liver, etc.
Second: The
liver is in the early cirrhosis stage
If these two
conditions are met and the cause of cirrhosis of the liver is treated, then the
percentage of liver fibers decreases significantly over time, which leads to
the decline of cirrhosis to lower degrees such as F3, F2,
Treatment of advanced or late-stage (decompensated) cirrhosis of the liver:
In this
case, the best treatment is liver transplantation, in which the cirrhotic liver
is replaced with a liver lobe from a healthy donor. Within several months, the
transplanted lobe will grow into a complete liver. The success rate of this
operation is very high, more than 90%.
But in the
absence of liver grafts, we can treat the cause of fibrosis, which may lead to
a significant improvement in liver function, in addition to treating
complications of fibrosis such as ascites, jaundice, and esophageal varices.
Follow-up of a patient with cirrhosis of the liver:
This is a
very important point, as many patients, after treating the cause of cirrhosis,
think that their liver has become healthy and neglect the follow-up until they
wake up from a nightmare such as bleeding esophageal varices or cancerous liver
tumors. Live function tests and liver tumor marker analysis, in addition to
ultrasound examination to detect any problem in its infancy, for example,
cancerous liver tumors are easy to treat if they are discovered and are in a
small size, then they can be treated by various means such as radiofrequency,
microwave, chemoembolization or surgery.
The cirrhotic
patient also needs to have an endoscopy on the stomach:
- In the
absence of esophageal varices, it is recommended to repeat the endoscopy after
3 years
- In the
case of small varicose veins, drug treatment is recommended to reduce the
pressure of the hepatic portal vein to prevent these varicose veins from
increasing in size with a follow-up endoscopy every year.
- In the
event of large varicose veins in the esophagus, it is recommended to perform
varicose veins ligation sessions to get rid of them with drug treatment to
reduce the pressure of the hepatic portal vein.
Are there any new medicines to treat cirrhosis of the liver?
Indeed,
there are many drugs in advanced stages of research to treat liver cirrhosis,
and many of them have given promising results, but none of them takes FDA
approval, waiting for further research.
Stem cell transplant:
It is a new
technique, where cell able to differentiate into liver cells was taken from the
patient’s bone marrow or from a fetus’s placenta or umbilical cord. Then these
cells were injected inside the patient’s body either through an IV line or by
catheter into the hepatic artery or directly inside the spleen. Over time, the
cells populate the liver to take over the function of the injured liver cells.
Clinical
studies revealed improvement in the liver function of the patients, however, this
improvement was only short-term as the injected cells could not survive for a long
time, and many efforts are done now to solve the problems facing stem cell transplants.
Herbal treatment of liver cirrhosis:
Silymarin:
Silymarin is an extract of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum) that contains a variety of flavonoids. It has long been used as a supportive, hepatoprotective medication in patients with liver cirrhosis, chronic inflammatory, and toxic liver diseases; however, studies have failed to demonstrate any benefits of Silymarin in the treatment of liver cirrhosis.
Curcumin:
Curcumin,
the active compound of Curcuma longa has been investigated in several medical
diseases and reported to exert tumor preventive, antiviral, and
anti-inflammatory effects in chronic liver disease, however, more studies are needed
to demonstrate its efficiency in the treatment of liver cirrhosis.
Resveratrol
Resveratrol
is a natural antioxidant that can be found in a wide variety of plants. Its use
in patients with chronic liver diseases revealed improvement in the degree of inflammation
and the liver enzymes but not the degree of fibrosis.
Is the Laennec effective in the treatment of liver cirrhosis?
Laennec is a placental extract containing a variety of growth factors, including HGF (hepatocyte growth factor), which promotes the proliferation of hepatic parenchymal cells and thus aids in the recovery of a damaged liver.
It is administered once daily via IM or SC injection. Clinical trials failed to demonstrate any reduction in liver fibrosis in patients treated with Laennec.
Liver Cirrhosis Prevention Tips:
Vaccination in case of virus B
Avoid using shared needles or syringes
Avoid unsafe sex which may transmit hepatitis B.
Screening of pregnant mothers for hepatitis B virus, because it can transmit to the baby through the placenta.
Treatment of HBV and HCV by the available medications
Prevention and treatment of fatty liver
Avoid excess alcohol intake
Avoid unwise use of the medications
Conclusion:
It is that the treatment of cirrhosis of the
liver is possible, provided that the cirrhosis is in an early stage (compensated
cirrhosis of the liver) and that the cause of the cirrhosis is known in this
case. In the case of uneven fibrosis, the optimal treatment is liver
transplantation. If it is not available, the alternative is to treat the cause
to maintain the existing percentage of fibrosis and not progress, in addition
to treating the complications of cirrhosis. In all cases, whether the cirrhosis is compensated or decompensated, it is necessary to follow up periodically for early
detection of any complications such as liver tumors, esophageal varices,
ascites, and early treatment.