Cirrhosis Health Article

Definition

Cirrhosis is a chronic degenerative disease of the liver in which normal liver cells are damaged and then replaced by scar tissue. There are different types of cirrhosis that could afflict a person.

Description

Cirrhosis changes the structure of the liver and the blood vessels that nourish it. The disease reduces the liver's ability to manufacture proteins, complex carbohydrates, fats, cholesterol, and to process hormones, nutrients, medications, and poisons. Cirrhosis worsens over time and can become potentially life threatening.

Cirrhosis is the seventh leading cause of disease-related death in the United States. It is the third most common cause of death in adults between the ages of 45 and 65. It is twice as common in men as in women. The disease occurs in more than half of all malnourished chronic alcoholics, and kills about 25,000 people a year. In Asia and Africa, however, most deaths from cirrhosis are due to chronic hepatitis B.

Types of cirrhosis

• Portal, or nutritional cirrhosis. The most common form of the disease in the United States. About 30–50% of all cases of cirrhosis are this type. Nine out of every 10 people who have nutritional cirrhosis have a history of alcoholism. Portal cirrhosis is also called Laënnec's cirrhosis.
• Biliary cirrhosis. Caused by liver bile-duct diseases that impede bile flow. Bile is formed in the liver and carried via the ducts to the intestines. Bile then helps digest fats in the intestines. Biliary cirrhosis can scar or block these ducts. It represents 15–20% of all cirrhosis.
• Postnecrotic cirrhosis. Caused by chronic infections. This form of the disease affects up to 40% of all patients who have cirrhosis.
• Pigment cirrhosis (hemochromatosis). Disorders like the inability to metabolize iron and similar disorders may cause pigment cirrhosis, which accounts for 5–10% of all instances of the disease.