A 42-year-old member asked:
What is cirrhosis of the liver?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Jeffrey Tyleranswered
45 years experience
Scars in the liver: Chronic inflammation of liver cells can result in permanent scarring to develop in the liver. This is called cirrhosis. Common causes are excess alcohol intake, viral hepatitis infection, certain drugs and hereditary diseases. Blood tests to check liver function and ultrasound examination can help evaluate the overall health of the liver.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Similar questions
A 31-year-old member asked:
Cirrhosis of the liver is an effect of what?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Stanley Lightfootanswered
60 years experience
See below: For a long time in the us alcohol was the major player now hepatitis c is but both can as well as hepatitis b also there are rarer causes but these are the major causes.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
What are tests of cirrhosis of the liver?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Gurmukh Singhanswered
Pathology 51 years experience
Biopsy: Blood tests and imaging studies can suggest a diagnosis of cirrhosis, confirmation requires biopsy (usually needle biopsy) and examination of the tissue by a pathologist.
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5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
CA
A 24-year-old member asked:
How does cirrhosis affect my liver?
2 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in

Dr. Marsha Davisanswered
Internal Medicine 30 years experience
Several ways: The most easy wdy to explain it is to say it makes it unable to handle and detoxify normal body wates that it should. It can be fatal.
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6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Some symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver?
5 doctor answers • 12 doctors weighed in

Dr. Stephen Chenganswered
Transplant Surgery 37 years experience
Quite a few: When cirrhosis is well established patients develop portal hypertension (high pressure in the veins in stomach, spleen, and intestines) and blood is shunted away from the liver. Patients then develop ascites (fluid build up in abdomen), enlarged spleen and low platelet count, encephalopathy (confusion), and varices (enlarged veins inside stomach and esophagus) which can lead to massive bleeding.
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5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. Cosme Manzarbeitia commented
Surgery 41 years experience
Actually cirrhosis is largely symptomatic and is discovered in autopsies in about 30% of cases. Symptoms only develop when patients show signs and symptoms of end-stage liver disease. Then the manifestations mentioned above appear, and are a bad prognostic sign
Jul 18, 2012

A 36-year-old member asked:
What causes cirrhosis of the liver?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Cosme Manzarbeitiaanswered
Surgery 41 years experience
Many causes: Cirrhosis is the way the liver heals itself after repeated, severe or ongoing insults. These can be multifactorial, such as toxins (alcohol, certain meds), viruses (hepatitis), or even fatty degeneration (nash).
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5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Jul 21, 2014
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