Cirrhosis is a complication of many liver diseases that is characterised by abnormal structure and function of the liver.
Kumeh in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday, said hepatitis B, hepatitis C and some drugs could also trigger the disease. While acknowledging that prevention is better than cure, the physician advised that people should endeavour to take hepatitis B vaccine. Quoting a health journal, Kumeh said:
`` liver is an important organ in the body that performs many critical functions, two of which are producing substances required by the body.
``For example, clotting proteins that are necessary in order for blood to clot, and removing toxic substances that can be harmful to the body.
``Alcohol and viral hepatitis B and C are common causes of cirrhosis, although there are many other causes.’’
According to Kumeh, the important thing is to adhere to doctors’ advice regarding the known and possible factors that had been identified to trigger the disease.
``Liver cirrhosis have no early symptoms, it is a chronic disease that the signs come when it is already severe.’’
The physician said that diagnosis of cirrhosis could be suggested by the history, physical examination and blood tests, and could be confirmed by liver biopsy.
Biopsy is the removal of a sample of tissue from a living person for laboratory examination. It is a complication of liver disease which involves loss of liver cells and irreversible scarring of the liver.
According to a recent health journal, cirrhosis can cause weakness, loss of appetite, easy bruising, yellowing of the skin (jaundice), itching, and fatigue.
The journal states that treatment of cirrhosis is designed to prevent further damage to the liver treat complications of cirrhosis, and preventing or detecting liver cancer early.
Kumeh said that transplantation of the liver was becoming an important option for treating patients with advanced cirrhosis. He said that a research was ongoing to determine the mechanism of scar formation in the liver and how the process of scarring could be interrupted or even reversed.
``The research is being directed at identifying new proteins in the blood that can detect liver cancer early or predict which patients will develop liver cancer.’’
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