What is Liver Sclerosis?

Taking care of our liver is necessary for all of us to do since our liver is the one responsible in detoxifying all the toxins from our body. In fact, the liver is one of the few organs with the most number of purposes and functions in the body. These include producing bile for fat digestion and a lot more. Unfortunately, our liver can also suffer from a lot of health problems and diseases. One of the most common is none other than liver sclerosis. What is liver sclerosis?

Liver sclerosis, or commonly known as cirrhosis, is a type of liver condition that occurs when scar tissues or regenerative nodules are formed in the liver, which replaces healthy tissues and prevents it from functioning properly. This causes the liver to lose its ability to produce proteins that are necessary for blood clotting as well as in controlling and fighting infections. This likewise prevents the liver from filtering the blood from any bacteria or toxins as well as store energy. Without the proper functioning of the liver, food digestion will not occur properly as well as the absorption of fats and cholesterol and the different fat soluble vitamins.

What causes the sclerosis of the liver? Liver sclerosis can occur due to several reasons or causes. However, this condition is not a result of any trauma or acute and short term damage to the liver. This liver condition mainly results from a chronic disease or injury that is not treated for a very long time. Some of the more common triggering factors of liver sclerosis are the following:
• Increased consumption of alcoholic beverages
• Obesity or overweight
• Presence of chronic hepatitis B, C or D due to the infection in the liver, which can lead to cirrhosis.
• Autoimmune hepatitis – a condition wherein the body’s own immune system attacks the cells of the liver causing inflammation and damage, which will eventually lead to cirrhosis.
• Non alcoholic steatohepatitis – a disorder that causes increased deposit of fats in the liver causing the liver cell to inflame.
• Prolonged toxic chemical exposure such as to drugs and also to parasitic infections.
• Inherited diseases such as cyctic fibrosis, Wilson’s disease, protoporhyia and hemochromatosis.
• Blockage of the bile ducts that lead to the reflux of the bile juice causing inflammation

What are the symptoms of liver sclerosis? During the initial stage of this disease, no symptoms are usually observed. However, as the disease progresses, patient may finally experience weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss, vomiting and nausea, abdominal pain and the presence of bloating due to the accumulation of fluid in the abdomen, itching and the formation of spider angioma or spider like blood vessels on the skin. Liver cirrhosis is usually diagnosed through lab tests such as CT scan, MRI and blood examination and liver scan. Doctors may also use laparoscopy in the abdomen in order to better diagnose the disease. These are just some of the vital information and facts pertaining to the liver problem known as liver sclerosis or cirrhosis.

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