Liver cirrhosis: causes, symptoms, treatment, and prevention
Liver cirrhosis recently claimed the life of 45-year-old comedian-impersonator Ate Shawee, or Marvin Martinez in real life.
Ate Shawee reportedly passed away at around 1:00 p.m. on Monday, July 26, due to complications from liver cirrhosis.
In an interview with PEP.ph, her niece Rafaela De Jesus said that Ate Shawee took a turn for the worse when she was rushed to the Chinese General Hospital on Saturday, July 24.
Rafaela said Ate Shawee can no longer recognize other people except her sibling and even vomited and excreted blood.
In this article, we discuss what liver cirrhosis is, how it develops and how it can be treated and prevented.
Read on to find out if you are at risk for liver cirrhosis and if it's true that drinking too much alcohol is one of the main culprits of it.
What is liver cirrhosis?
Liver cirrhosis is a late-stage liver disease wherein the healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue, resulting in permanent damage.
Although the liver naturally tries to repair itself each time it is damaged, the scar tissue that forms could eventually make it hard for the liver to function.
Thus, the more scarring (fribosis) occurs, the more the cirrhosis progresses and could potentially lead to serious complications and liver failure.
There are two stages of liver cirrhosis: compensated cirrhosis or decompensated cirrhosis.
Compensated cirrhosis is when you are still asymptomatic or do not have noticeable symptoms yet. This can only be confirmed through a liver biopsy.
Decompensated cirrhosis, on the other hand, is when the cirrhosis has progressed and you already have symptoms.
Causes
You've probably heard or read before that heavy drinkers are at great risk to develop liver cirrhosis. Is there truth to this? The answer is yes.
Years of alcohol abuse is one of the main causes of liver cirrhosis.
However, aside from alcoholism, other liver diseases can also cause liver cirrhosis such as the following:
- Chronic viral infections of the liver (Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C)
- Fatty liver disease that is associated with obesity and diabetes
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (build-up of an abnormal protein in the liver)
- Hemochromatosis (excess iron stored in the liver).
- Wilson's disease (excess copper stored in the liver).
- Cystic fibrosis (sticky, thick mucus builds up in the liver)
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- Certain genetic digestive disorders
- Some infections, including syphilis and brucellosis
Moreover, Healthline says that the use of medications, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs like acetaminophen and some antibiotics and antidepressants can lead to liver cirrhosis.
Symptoms
If you suspect that you or your loved one might suffer from liver cirrhosis, here some of the symptoms to watch out for:
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Easily bleeding or bruising
- Nose bleeds
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Swelling in your legs, feet or ankles (edema)
- Weight loss
- Anorexia
- Itchy skin
- Yellow discoloration in the skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Fluid accumulation in your abdomen (ascites)
- Spider-like blood vessels on your skin
- Brownish or orange color to your urine.
- Light-colored stools.
- Confusion, difficulty thinking, memory loss, personality changes.
- Blood in your stool.
- Redness in the palms of the hands
- For women, absent or loss of periods not related to menopause
- For men, loss of sex drive, breast enlargement (gynecomastia) or testicular atrophy
- Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy)
Complications
Some of the serious complications that might result from liver cirrhosis are portal hypertension, hypersplenism, or an overactive spleen, infections, malnutrition, liver cancer, and liver failure.
Treatment
There is no cure for liver cirrhosis but one can keep it from worsening by treating the causes. If it is alcohol abuse-related cirrhosis, then one must ultimately cease drinking alcohol.
If it is liver cirrhosis caused by Hepatitis B or C, you will be prescribed antiviral medications by your doctor.
If it is caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, you will need to lose weight, follow a healthy diet, be physically fit and manage your diabetes, if ever.
In general, treatment of liver cirrhosis highly depends on the causes, symptoms and the complications that arise from it.
Prevention
Fortunately, there are ways to prevent and manage liver cirrhosis, especially for those who have risk factors:
- Don't abuse alcohol or try to limit your intake. If you already have a liver disease, then you should forgo drinking alcohol altogether
- Follow a well-balanced, low-fat diet such as the Mediterranean diet
- Do not eat raw seafood like oysters and clams as they contain bacteria that can cause serious illnesses
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Exercise regularly
- Quit smoking
- Manage existing medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
- Avoid risky behaviors such as sharing needles for illegal drugs and having unprotected sex, as these can give you Hepatitis B or C
- Get vaccinated against Hepatitis B
- Get your annual flu shot to prevent acquiring other infections
- Avoid using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, indomethacin, celecoxib, aspirin, and acetaminophen
For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.
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