The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body. It is part of the digestive system, performing over 500 different functions, each essential to life. Its essential functions include aiding in fat digestion, storing nutrients, filtering toxins and waste from the blood, synthesizing various proteins, and regulating the levels of many chemicals that enter the bloodstream.
The liver is unique among the organs of the human body because of its ability to regenerate, to replenish cells that have been destroyed by illness or injury in the short term. However, if the liver suffers repeated, long-term damage (chronic diseases), the changes become irreversible, interfering with its function.
Cirrhosis is a life-threatening disease that occurs when fibrosis develops in liver tissue. Fibrotic tissue replaces healthy liver tissue and prevents it from functioning normally. Cirrhosis occurs after many years of inflammation of liver tissue. Cirrhosis of the liver can have many causes. Some people suffer from cirrhosis of the liver without an obvious cause, a condition called cryptogenic cirrhosis (without known etiology). The most common causes of cirrhosis of the liver are excessive alcohol consumption over a long period of time and infection with hepatitis B or C viruses.
Some people with cirrhosis of the liver do not have symptoms until the damage is severe. Symptoms of cirrhosis and its complications include: swelling of the lower limbs (swelling of the legs) and ascitic fluid (fluid accumulated in the abdomen); fatigue; jaundice (yellowing of the skin and sclera); generalized itching (itching); nosebleeds (epistaxis); marbled palms (red marbled palms); bruising with minor trauma; palmar erythema; weight loss and muscle wasting; abdominal pain; frequent infections, and confusion.
Acute hepatitis is an acute liver condition caused by hepatitis viruses. It is characterized by enlargement of the liver, jaundice, the skin turning yellowish-red, dark urine, loss of appetite, fatigue, discolored/whitish feces, nausea, fever, and vomiting. Chronic hepatitis is a chronic inflammatory process of the liver, caused by poorly treated hepatitis, excessive alcohol consumption, and other causes. It manifests as fatigue, nausea, liver pain, headache, insomnia, jaundice, agitation, bleeding from the nose or gums.
The main types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, and G. However, only hepatitis B and C can cause cirrhosis.
Viral hepatitis A is transmitted almost exclusively by the oral/digestive route, through direct contact with the sick person or indirectly through food, water, beverages, spoiled food products (e.g., seafood), or objects contaminated with the virus. The incubation period is 14-40 days. The disease begins with a prodromal, preicteric period of 5-7 days with fever, muscle aches, and digestive discomfort (nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite), weakness, and apathy. The course of hepatitis A virus infection is almost always favorable, with complete recovery without sequelae. Severe or fatal cases are exceptional.
Viral hepatitis B differs essentially from hepatitis A both in transmission and in evolution. Hepatitis B has a much more difficult course and multiple transmission routes through blood: transfusions, needle inoculations, unsterilized dental instruments, shaving instruments, kissing, sexual contact with virus carriers, mosquitoes. A pregnant woman carrying the virus usually infects the newborn during the perinatal period. The disease has a long preicteric period, 2-4 weeks, with misleading symptoms: rheumatic pains, weakness, skin rashes, followed by the jaundice period. The course is long and difficult. Healing occurs slowly in 85-90% of patients. Others remain with persistent infection (chronic hepatitis, sometimes cirrhosis, and chronic virus carriers).
Viral hepatitis C is transmitted when the blood of an infected person with this virus comes into contact with another person. This is possible in the following cases: blood transfusion and organ reception, body tattooing, vaccination with unsterilized equipment. Even sharing a toothbrush, shaving device, tweezers, and manicure set can lead to infection with the hepatitis C virus. It is unlikely that this virus is transmitted sexually. If the mother was infected with the hepatitis C virus during pregnancy, there is a risk that the baby will be infected at birth. The risk of infecting the child is much higher when the mother infected with hepatitis C also has AIDS. Hepatitis C is not transmitted through the shared use of dishes, swimming pools, and toilets. This type of hepatitis is chronic (the incubation period is between 10-15 years) and acute (symptoms appear 8-12 weeks after infection).
Some symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, dark urine color, yellowing of the skin, and liver area pain, are similar to those of other forms of hepatitis. In addition to these symptoms, depression, continuous joint and muscle pain occur. In this case, reinfection is possible, and even contamination with other A or B type viruses. Mixed infections lead to rapid liver disease.
Hepatic steatosis consists of an accumulation of triglycerides in the liver cell (hepatocyte) and has a complex origin. Fats can come from the usual metabolism of fatty acids from the rest of the body with their storage in hepatocytes, through increased synthesis of triglycerides from acetates resulting from ethanol metabolism, through increased uptake and storage by the hepatocyte in distress of triglycerides from food, through insufficient oxidation of fatty acids in the liver, or through the hepatocyte's inability to synthesize lipoproteins from triglycerides. For triglycerides, normal values in men range from 0.5 to 1.5g/l (0.6-1.7 mmol/l), and in women from 0.4 to 1.6g/l (0.45-1.5 mmol/l). In case of high triglyceride levels, it is necessary to determine if it is induced by obesity, diabetes, chronic alcoholism, renal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, some medications, foods high in fat, etc.
In hepatic steatosis, an enlarged liver is observed, painless, with an unchanged edge, which is the only clinical sign detected by ultrasound. Hepatic steatosis may also be accompanied by splenomegaly (enlarged spleen). Appetite is preserved, only some dyspeptic phenomena appear as a consequence of concomitant gastric or pancreatic suffering.
Jaundice is a yellow coloration of the skin and mucous membranes caused by the retention of bilirubin in the blood. The increase in bilirubin in the blood can be caused by three main circumstances, which lead to the distinction of three forms of jaundice: hemolytic jaundice, jaundice due to liver lesions, and mechanical or biliary obstruction jaundice.
Recommended products: 3 pcs. of Blue Clay Powder - 1 kg. and 2 pcs. Blue Clay Powder - 1 kg.