Cirrhosis
Although cirrhosis is normally associated with alcohol abuse, the term cirrhosis
refers to the replacement of liver cells by non-functioning, fibrous tissues
and shrinking of the liver, all of which occur when liver cells cease functioning.
Cirrhosis occurs most frequently among middle-aged women; in 1989, chronic liver
disease, including cirrhosis, was the ninth most common cause of death in the
U.S.
Cirrhosis is most commonly linked with alcohol abuse and hepatitis, though malnutrition,
prolonged obstruction of the flow of bile, congestive heart failure and syphilis
may also lead to cirrhosis. Since the exact cause of cirrhosis remains unknown,
there is no guaranteed means of prevention.
In practical terms, however, one can minimize the chances of cirrhosis by limiting
alcoholic intake and avoiding the common causes of hepatitis. Hepatitis A or
infectious hepatitis is normally contracted either through eating improperly
cooked or uncooked shellfish or through the use of food or eating utensils contaminated
by a carrier. Consequently, proper food preparation (e.g., steaming shellfish
for four to six minutes or frying them; boiling suspicious drinking water) and
good hygiene reduce the opportunities for acquiring Hepatitis A. Hepatitis B,
or serum hepatitis, is a more serious illness.
Persons who must be around carriers or potential carriers of this disease (for
example, health care workers) should receive the vaccination against it, which
is safe and effective. If cirrhosis is caught in time and the other complicating
factors are not present, cirrhosis can be halted (though not reversed) through
treatment and then through diet; persons with advanced cirrhosis may be considered
for liver transplantation.
Current Research
The exact cause of cirrhosis is the liver is unknown, despite its frequent links
with alcohol abuse and hepatitis. Aside from the prevention methods described
above for these two most common links, research is also proceeding on various
other ways of preventing cirrhosis, although the research to date remains purely
experimental. For example, researchers at the Fukushima Medical College in Japan
report evidence the malitolate prevents liver cell damage and cirrhosis, both
induced by CCl4 in rats (Suzuki, 1992).
Researchers at the Center for Biomedical Research at the Hospital of St. Joan
in Reus, Spain, also report experimental results in rats indicating that zinc
supplementationlessens the effect of fibrogenesis in cirrhotic rat livers (Camps
and others, 1992). Finally, researchers at the Shanxi Institute of Traditional
Chinese Medicine in Taiyuan Mainland, China, report research indicating that
certain Chinese herbs slowed the progress of chronic liver disease into cirrhosis
(Wang, 1992).
Again, it must be emphasized that all of these findings are still very experimental.
With regard to the treatment of cirrhosis, ursodeoxycholic acid has brought
signficant improvements in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (Jorgensen
and others, 1995). When cirrhosis is complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma,
liver transplantation can yield very good results (Schwartz and others, 1995),
though effective non-surgical treatment has also made significant strides in
recent years (review: Ohto and others, 1995).
Bodily Effects
The liver is one of the body's most complex organs. Through processes that are
still unknown, the liver can continue to operate even when parts of it are removed,
and can even re-grow the portions that are removed. Excessive consumption of
alcohol and/or hepatitis or other disease can destroy liver cells, robbing them
of their ability to regenerate and of their ability to perform the large number
of vital liver functions. If caught in time,the damage done can be stopped,
though it cannot be reversed.
Source: Wellness Web
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