Liver Cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis, also known as hepatic cirrhosis, is a condition where healthy liver tissue is progressively replaced by non-functional scar tissue. This permanent scarring marks the advanced stage of liver damage, significantly impairing the liver’s ability to function properly.

Common Symptoms:

Causes:

Chronic Alcoholism

Viral hepatitis (Hepatitis B,C and D)

Metabolic Dysfunction

Cystic Fibrosis

Non- alcoholic fatty liver disease

Bile duct disease

Genetic disease

Stages of liver damage:

Risk factors:

Heavy alcohol consumption
Metabolic disorders such as diabetes
Regular exposure to toxic chemicals
Intravenous drugs
Excess sodium intake (any food with lot of preservatives)

Limitations of Medication Therapy

Liver transplant:
Liver transplant is the only definitive cure for end-stage cirrhosis. But there are risks of limited donor availability, risk of organ rejection, high cost and need for lifelong immunosuppression.
Irreversible Fibrosis:
Anti-fibrotic therapies are still experimental and current medications cannot reverse established liver cirrhosis or regenerate damaged liver tissues.
Drugs offer symptomatic relief only: Most drugs such as beta-blockers and diuretics only address the symptoms but not the underlying liver damage and scarring.
Repetitive procedures affect quality of life: Procedures like paracentesis, endoscopic band ligation, or TIPS are often needed repeatedly and affect quality of life