Cirrhosis is a chronic disease of the liver in which liver tissue is replaced by connective tissue, resulting in the loss of liver function. Cirrhosis is caused by damage from toxins (including alcohol), metabolic problems, chronic viral hepatitis or other causes. Cirrhosis is sometimes referred to by its obsolete eponym Laennec's cirrhosis after René Laënnec. Cirrhosis is irreversible but treatment of the causative disease will slow or even halt the damage.
Cirrhosis may refer to chronic interstitial inflammation of any tissue, but is rarely used for other diseases than cirrhosis of the liver.
Symptoms
Initial symptoms
Early symptoms include red palms, spider angioma (red spots on the upper body), hypertrophy of the parotid glands, and fibrosis of tendons in the hands. Clubbing may develop.
Many people with cirrhosis have no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. However, as scar tissue replaces healthy cells, liver function starts to fail and a person may experience the following symptoms:
exhaustion
fatigue
loss of appetite
nausea
weakness
weight loss
abdominal pain
Common GI Disorders
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