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Is Cirrhosis Life-threatening? Do I Need To Be Worried?

Cirrhosis is a very serious condition in which the liver becomes scarred from liver disease. Cirrhosis may be caused by excessive drinking, but it can also be caused by other things.

Approximately one in five Americans diagnosed with HCV are also diagnosed with cirrhosis.  The average age of these patients is around 50 years old.  Approximately 6 % to 10 % of this group die each year.

Patients who have cirrhosis die at the same rate as an 80-year-old American

After approximately 20 years of being infected with HCV, approximately 20 % of these patients will develop cirrhosis.  Approximately 50 % of patients diagnosed with HCV will develop cirrhosis after 50 years of living with the disease.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict that the number of deaths from HCV will triple in the coming years as Americans get older.

Most people who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C have only moderate or even mild liver damage.  This does not put them at an increased risk for death.  If HCV is successfully cured, the liver will improve annually, regenerating itself.  Your liver is the only organ in your body that can do this.  The only other part of your body that can regenerate is your bone marrow. 

In order for treatment to be successful in patients with cirrhosis, treatment must be completed for at least one year.  Cirrhosis should be considered a life-threatening illness as if it goes untreated or unnoticed, it can become life-threatening. 
Patients who have been diagnosed with cirrhosis may develop other disease, including kidney failure. 

Your liver is too important to your body to ignore.  It’s responsible for over 500 important body function.  Just a few of the important functions include converting food into nutrients, which are stored in the body, detoxifying substances which are harmful to the body, processes the medications we take, stores vitamins, minerals and sugars and creates bile, which is a necessary component to our digestion. 

Cirrhosis is potentially life-threatening because it can cause liver failure in some severe cases.  Cirrhosis is typically caused by long-term liver disease, which may be the result of varying factors.  Chronic hepatitis B and C may also cause cirrhosis as well as bile duct disease and fatty liver disease.  Some diseases which are inherited or present at birth may also cause cirrhosis. 

Symptoms of cirrhosis include:

•     loss of appetite

•     fatigue and weakness

•     nausea and vomiting

•     weight loss

•     jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)

•     excessive itching (because of the retention of bile products in the skin)

•     fluid buildup and painful swelling of the legs and abdomen

•     confusion and other mental changes, which may lead to a coma

•     swelling or rupture of the veins in the lower end of the esophagus from increased blood pressure in the vessels leading to the liver

Tags: abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain, cirrhosis, dysfunctional liver, liver, liver damage, liver disease, liver problems

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