Cost of Liver Cirrhosis in India

Liver cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism.

 Fatigue  Easy bleeding or bruising  Loss of appetite  Nausea  Swelling in legs, feet, or ankles (edema)  Weight loss  Itchy skin  Jaundice  Fluid accumulation in abdomen (ascites)  Spiderlike blood vessels on skin  Redness in the palms of the hands  For women, absent of loss of periods  Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech

Some of the causes include:

 Chronic alcohol abuse  Chronic viral hepatitis  Fat accumulating in the liver  Iron buildup  Cystic fibrosis  Copper accumulated in the liver (Wilson’s disease)  Poorly formed bile ducts (biliary atresia)  Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency  Inherited disorders of sugar metabolism  Genetic digestive disorder  Liver disease caused by the body’s immune system  Destruction of the bile ducts  Hardening and scarring of the bile ducts  Infection, such as syphilis or brucellosis  Medications, including methotrexate or isoniazid

• Laboratory tests
• Imaging tests
• Biopsy
• Ct abdomen
• MRI scan
• LFT tests

Treatment options:

1. Reduce alcohol dependency
2. Weight loss
3. Medications: This may limit further damage to liver cells caused by hepatitis B or C through specific treatment of these viruses.

Which make this worse:

• Drinking too much alcohol
• Being overweight
• Having viral hepatitis

• Swelling in legs and abdomen
• Enlargement of spleen
• Bleeding
• Infections
• Malnutrition
• Buildup of toxins in the brain
• Jaundice
• Bone disease
• Increased risk of liver cancer
• Acute-on-chronic cirrhosis