I remember when I was in college, my little friend and I were eating outside the Medical University, and we ordered a stir-fried liver tip. When the dish was served, I felt that something was wrong. The liver was black. Try it, it’s tough! Just can’t bite.
So I called the boss and asked why the tip of the liver was so hard.
The boss said jokingly: “My restaurant is next to your school, the liver may be affected and a little hardened”. Wow~ We petrified on the spot.
Is this cirrhosis a hard liver? Why is it hard? Today we will talk about cirrhosis of the liver.
How does cirrhosis develop?
Liver cirrhosis is a pathological change in the development of liver disease to a certain extent. If the liver will not be healthy, it will become hard on its own. If it becomes hard, it will be a result of injustice and debt. The most common cause of liver cirrhosis in my country is chronic hepatitis, in addition to alcoholic liver disease caused by long-term alcohol abuse, as well as a few other causes such as cholestasis and autoimmunity.
Long-term chronic hepatitis B and C have not been treated, the virus is always in a state of high replication, or long-term alcohol decomposition products continue to damage liver cells, when the body can’t stand it anymore, it will take action. As a result, the immune system launches an attack on the virus-infected liver cells, killing one thousand enemies and self-destructing eight hundred.
Over time, the damage to liver cells increases. At this time, the body finds the problem and starts to repair it. However, in the process of repairing, it was not repaired according to the original shape of liver cells. Many positions that should have been repaired by liver cells were repaired with non-functional glial cells and fibroblasts. These cells also repaired It can also synthesize fiber to make the liver fibrosis, and the liver is hard from the general touch, from a tender and juicy “little fresh meat” to a dark “old fritters”. Over time, the liver function is getting worse and worse, and its synthesis function, detoxification function, and secretion function are gradually lost, and our body will show different symptoms.
Image source: Figure Worm Creative
What are the symptoms of cirrhosis?
The compensated stage of liver cirrhosis is mainly right upper quadrant discomfort, oil disgust, loss of appetite and other symptoms. There is no specificity, and our liver can also exert its powerful Compensation ability, actively mobilize the remaining healthy liver cells to work harder, our daily life is generally not affected, which makes many people not pay attention, often at this time, the disease slowly invades our body, < strong>In fact, this period is also the final treatment time for liver cirrhosis.
At this time, the liver cells want to work overtime for you, and they are already unable to do what they can. There are not many liver cells left to work, and the few survivors have to bear heavier work. .
1) There will be obvious loss of appetite and weight loss in the body, accompanied by abdominal distension and ascites. Some patients may have more than 10 liters of ascites in the abdominal cavity, and carry 20 pounds of water every day, you said How uncomfortable.
2) In patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, it is even more dangerous, and symptoms such as gynecomastia and spider naevi on the upper chest and back will appear.
3) Varicose veins, after gastric esophageal varices are exposed to the esophageal mucosa, this is a very dangerous signal, when we eat crude fiber food, too large, too hot, spicy, etc. When irritating food is used, it is easy to rupture and bleed, resulting in massive bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and many patients suffer from shock or even death.
The above mentioned are the common main symptoms of liver cirrhosis, but there are many more, such as enlarged spleen, obvious jaundice, advanced hepatic encephalopathy and so on. In general, once liver cirrhosis enters the decompensated stage, the quality of life of patients will plummet, and many patients with liver cirrhosis will be converted to hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis B–cirrhosis–liver cancer, which is very important in our country. Common disease development.
Image source: Figure Worm Creative
How is cirrhosis treated?
Delay the development as much as possible in the early stage, mainly taking antiviral drugs and anti-fibrosis drugs for life, as well as liver protection treatment, absolutely abstain from alcohol in the diet, and eat more vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins , Eat less greasy food, pay attention to rest, try to avoid overwork.
In the decompensated stage, symptomatic treatment is given. If there is ascites, water should be released and albumin should be added. If the coagulation function is not good, some coagulation factors should be added.
Current level of medical science,The only cure is liver transplantation, in this regard, many hospitals have relatively rich experience , If there is a suitable liver source, and the patient is young and the body can undergo major surgery, then liver transplantation can be selected, which can significantly prolong the life of the patient.
Actually, we don’t think of taking care of our bodies until we have liver cirrhosis. Many times, I see patients with liver cirrhosis in their 30s in clinic, but the mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B has already 30 years,What a pity.
I usually do a physical examination, check the five items of hepatitis B for tens of yuan, and check the liver function. These can eliminate liver disease in the bud. Generally, hepatitis B will turn into cirrhosis for more than ten years. During this period, if active hepatitis is found in any physical examination, we can control hepatitis through active anti-virus and cure it.
Author: Liu Bing, Department of Gastroenterology, Attending Physician, PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital)
Editor: Chun Yujun