The liver is a vital organ.digestive system. For example, if a person can still live without a gallbladder, then without a liver it is simply unrealistic. Unfortunately, the liver is a rather vulnerable organ. Doctors know quite a large number of diseases that can affect the liver. And one of these diseases is cirrhosis. It will be discussed below. What kind of disease is it, how does it manifest itself and is it treated? Doctors characterize cirrhosis as a progressive liver disease, most often having a chronic form of the course. With this disease, the following occurs - normal liver tissue is gradually replaced by connective tissue. As a rule, such replacement of dead liver cells with connective tissue occurs at a late stage of an advanced form of liver inflammation, or with some other diseases of the internal organs. This newly formed connective tissue absorbs healthy liver cells, tightly surrounding them. However, connective tissue cannot take over the function of dead cells. As a result, healthy liver cells begin to multiply very, very intensively. Thus, the liver tries to restore lost functions. However, connective tissue does not grow any slower. As a result, healthy liver cells are like islets on the surface of the damaged tissue. This is how the normal structure of the liver is disrupted. And as a result of the liver ceasing to function properly, liver failure develops.

Causes of liver cirrhosis

It goes without saying that cirrhosis neverwill start to develop out of nowhere. There must be certain prerequisites for this to happen. The reasons that can provoke the development of liver cirrhosis include:

• Parasites localized in the liver.
• Diseases affecting the bile excretory system, for example, cholecystitis.
• Both acute and chronic liver diseases are of a viral origin, for example hepatitis B, C, D.
• Lesions of the liver with alcohol or other toxic substances.
• Liver involvement with drugs.
• Such autoimmune liver diseases as biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis.
• Serious metabolic disorders, especially congenital.

Our readers should pay special attentionattention to the fact that these diseases can become factors that provoke the development of liver cirrhosis, but not necessarily. As a rule, in order for the disease to still affect a person, a confluence of certain circumstances is necessary.

Varieties of liver cirrhosis

Depending on how cirrhosis progressesliver, as well as the exact reasons for its occurrence, doctors distinguish several types of liver cirrhosis. It is very important to correctly diagnose not only the disease itself, but also to determine what type it is. Only in this case the doctor will be able to select the correct, appropriate treatment that will give certain results. So, the types of liver cirrhosis:

Primary biliary cirrhosis of the liver.In this chronic disease, continuous inflammatory processes occur in the liver, affecting the bile ducts. As a result of such inflammatory processes, the natural process of bile outflow is disrupted. Sick people have symptoms such as fever, jaundice, and itchy skin.

Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.Alcoholic liver cirrhosis occurs quite often in people who abuse alcoholic beverages, especially of poor quality. In almost all cases, the development of alcoholic liver cirrhosis occurs against the background of alcoholic hepatitis that a person already has. A very striking distinctive feature of alcoholic cirrhosis is a significant improvement in the general health of a person immediately after he or she stops drinking alcoholic beverages.

Autoimmune liver cirrhosis.This type of liver cirrhosis is nothing more than a consequence of the disruption of the normal functioning of the immune system of a sick person. In such a case, the human immune system, for some reason, perceives liver cells as foreign. And, of course, begins to actively destroy them.

Symptoms of liver cirrhosis

Cirrhosis of the liver never developslightning fast - its development takes an extremely long period of time. And for quite a long time the disease proceeds absolutely asymptomatically. And only in the later stages of development the disease can manifest itself with the following symptoms:

• A person feels very tired, his working capacity is greatly reduced, sleep is disturbed.
• A person can almost completely lose his appetite, and accordingly, his body weight.
• The human skin, mucous membranes and sclera can acquire a yellow shade.
• Strong skin itching, especially bothering a sick person at night.
• The palms of a sick person acquire a red tint due to an increased inflow of blood.
• Redness of the palms - palmar surface of the hands have a pink color, due to increased blood flow to the skin of this area.

Of course, these are far from all the signs of cirrhosis.liver, but they are among the very first. And they should never be ignored. The sooner a sick person consults a doctor, the sooner the necessary treatment will begin, and the more effective it will be.

Stages of cirrhosis development

It has already been mentioned above that cirrhosis does not develop suddenly. Therefore, it has several stages of development:

The first stage is the compensation stage. At this stage, the person does not have any external signs of liver cirrhosis. This is explained by the fact that the remaining liver cells work in a strengthened mode.

Stage of subcompensation. At this stage, the strength of the remaining healthy liver cells ends, so the liver is no longer able to function fully. The patient has the first symptoms of liver cirrhosis - a feeling of discomfort in the right upper quadrant, loss of appetite, weight loss.

The stage of decompensation. At this stage, the patient has hepatic insufficiency.

Treatment of cirrhosis of the liver

Treatment of a person suffering from cirrhosisliver, should be built according to a strictly defined algorithm. Only with the correct observance of all these points is it possible to improve the condition of a sick person. Treatment of liver cirrhosis is carried out as follows:

• Elimination of the causes that led to the development of liver cirrhosis

Before starting treatment directlycirrhosis of the liver itself, it is necessary to eliminate the causes that caused its development. For example, if a person has developed alcoholic cirrhosis, he must completely stop drinking alcoholic beverages. If cirrhosis of the liver has developed against the background of viral hepatitis, it is hepatitis that must be treated first. But if a person has autoimmune cirrhosis of the liver, he must receive drugs that suppress the overactive immune system - immunosuppressants.

• Diet for cirrhosis of the liver

In order for the treatment of liver cirrhosis to besuccessful, it is very important for a sick person to radically revise their diet. Otherwise, if the sick person does not strictly adhere to the therapeutic diet, the treatment will not be of any use. A person suffering from liver cirrhosis should exclude alcoholic and carbonated drinks, dishes made from fatty meats and fish, smoked meat, and any canned products from their diet. In addition, it is unacceptable to consume tomatoes, onions, garlic, tomato juice, and chocolate in large quantities. You should also not abuse table salt. Nutritionists recommend that such patients base their diet on such products as porridge, vegetable soups, boiled lean meat, crackers, green apples, and low-fat dairy products. Your doctor should tell you more about the diet recommended specifically for you.

• Restoration of normal liver function

In order for the liver to be able to perform its functions againfunctions, a person requires very long and extremely complex treatment. In each individual case, the doctor will select the optimal treatment for the patient. There is no point in describing it, since a person without a medical education is unlikely to be able to understand the abundance of complex medical terms and names of drugs. I would just like to once again emphasize to our readers the need to consult a doctor as soon as possible at the first alarming signs. After all, the later this is done, the more difficult the treatment, and the less chance a person has of recovery. For example, in especially severe cases, only a donor liver transplant can save a person. We recommend reading:

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