Cirrhosis is among the common causes of severe liver damage among adults today. Untreated, undiagnosed, or late-stage cirrhosis can result in liver failure, escalate your risk for liver cancer, or even result in death if you don't undergo a transplant. Gastroenterologist Robert Narvaez, MD, MBA is a cirrhosis specialist at Digestive & Liver Disease Center of San Antonio PLLC, who effectively diagnoses your condition early and helps prevent its progression. For San Antonio cirrhosis treatment, call or schedule an appointment online today.
What Is Liver Cirrhosis?
This refers to scarring of the liver that results due to severe tissue damage. Your healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue, which partially blocks blood flow within your liver. This results in poor liver function and ultimately to liver failure as the cirrhosis advances. The liver is the workhorse of your digestive system. It does the work of cleansing your blood, producing essential digestive fluids, filtering out toxins, and maintaining blood sugar levels. You cannot effectively perform these tasks without a healthy liver, so cirrhosis can have serious health consequences.
What Are The Causes Of Cirrhosis?
A variety of underlying health conditions can cause liver cirrhosis. These conditions include: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and alcohol-related liver disease. Excessive consumption of alcohol is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis. Other potential causes of cirrhosis include drug-related injury, viruses, and exposure to toxins.
What Are Cirrhosis Risk Factors?
If you have certain risk factors, you have a higher probability of developing cirrhosis. Some of the common risk factors include being older than fifty years, being male, having abused alcohol for a prolonged period, or having type 2 diabetes. Other cirrhosis risk factors include excessive iron buildup in the body, cystic fibrosis, medications that comprise methotrexate, and inherited gastrointestinal disorder. The doctor will examine you and carry out diagnostic tests to determine the progression of your cirrhosis.
What Are Symptoms Of Liver Cirrhosis?
Most of the time, you won't notice cirrhosis symptoms until you already have serious liver damage. As the liver damage worsens, some of the symptoms that you might experience include nausea, lack of appetite, itchiness, chronic exhaustion, red hands, confusion, ascites, edema in your legs, digestive tract bleeding, jaundice, abdominal pain or discomfort, and new, web-like blood vessels. With cirrhosis, men might get gynecomastia or testicular atrophy, while women might lose their period, which is unrelated to menopause.
What Are The Available Liver Cirrhosis Treatments?
Currently, there is no available cure for cirrhosis other than a liver transplant if your liver fails entirely. However, it is possible to prevent cirrhosis from worsening after an early diagnosis. At Digestive & Liver Disease Center of San Antonio PLLC, Dr. Narvaez will provide specific exercise routines, dietary changes, and strategies to stop taking alcohol to maintain your health.
Cirrhosis Conclusion
To sum up, cirrhosis is a severe condition that requires early intervention and treatment. If you suspect you have liver cirrhosis in and around San Antonio, Texas, call or schedule an appointment online with Digestive & Liver Disease Center of San Antonio PLLC today.
