The Causes of Cirrhosis - Research Paper Example

Introduction The liver serves a vital function. The liver’s main function is housekeeping. The liver removes the poisons from the human body. Drinking, being obese, and eating salty foods increase cirrhosis incidents. The poisons are harmful substances that trigger debilitating effects on the patients. The liver cleans the body of any harmful substances. The best medical advice is early intervention. An early diagnosis of the disease will lead to the stoppage of the continuing liver damage process. The liver scars significantly hinder the normal functioning of the liver. The advanced cirrhosis stage can lead to the early demise of the patients (Suchy, 2014). Certain acts will aggravate or mitigate Cirrhosis symptoms. Organ involved The organ affected is the liver. One of the liver’s major functions is for ethanol metabolism. Acetaldehyde is one of the ethanol metabolites. Acetaldehyde malfunctioning may contribute to alcoholic liver disease or ALD (Aspen, 2012). Cirrhosis is the advanced stage disease affecting one vital human organ. The organ is the liver. The liver is characterized as having scars. There are many causes of the scars. One of the causes is the patients’ suffering from hepatitis. Another is disorder of the patients’ bile duct body part (Alkaddour et al., 2014). Another cause of the liver scars, Cirrhosis, is excessive drinking of alcohol (Acton, 2013). Cirrhosis is characterized as the presence of avoidable scars’ damaging of the liver. The scars slow down or unfavorably disrupt the normal functions of the liver. The damage is accumulated over many years. Once the liver is scarred, removing the scars is very impossible (Ye, 2014). Anatomy of the healthy liver In terms of anatomy, the healthy liver helps in the metabolism of the body. The liver helps metabolize the body’s proteins. The liver maximizes the use of carbohydrates. The liver helps metabolize the body’s fats. The liver synthesizes the hormones, glycogen, amino acids, urea and other factors. The liver’s bile helps achieve and maintain the optimum nutritional requirements. The healthy liver has normally functioning portal vein and hepatic artery. The liver’s hepatocytes play an important role in the metabolism of both the human body’s ammonia and amino acids (Aspen, 2012). Description of the liver scars Cirrhosis scars are debilitating. The scars show damage on the liver. The damage prevents the normal functioning of the liver. Cirrhosis manifestate Cirrhosis manifestate focuses on the signs or evidence of the occurrence of the cirrhosis ailment. The healthy liver tissues are slowly replaced by scar tissues. The scar tissues prevent the normal flow of blood through the human body (Aspen, 2012). Pathophysiology of Cirrhosis Pathophysiology of Cirrhosis crops up in several steps. First, the excessive alcohol intake, drugs, and obstruction of the billary human part increases the chances of being one of the Cirrhosis patients. Next, the liver’s hepatocytes are severely damaged. The body’s hepatic tissues malfunction. Further, liver scars will crop. Next, scars will block the normal flow of blood. There is an obstruction of the patients’ normal blood flow. Lastly, the patients’ hypertension will increase (Aspen, 2012). Nutrition assessment of patient population Prescribing patients to consume the tailored nutrition levels will increase the patients’ health status. Accurate nutrition levels reduce the patients’ succumbing to cirrhosis. Different individuals have different nutrient levels requirements. The nutrition requirements of cirrhosis patients include 35 g protein. The patients’ improved protein consumption alleviates cirrhosis (Aspen, 2012). Further, several cirrhosis assessment activities are reliable. Weight for height factor is not a reliable assessment caters required. Plasma proteins are reliable cirrhosis factors. A one day creatinine treatment will improve cirrhosis assessment is a reliable cirrhosis research factor (Aspen, 2012). Nutrition recommendations to rehabilitate cirrhosis: Its provisions of nutrients It is highly recommended that certain nutrient be included as cirrhosis rehabilitation treatment. The nutrients include plasma proteins. Low level protein consumption alleviates the cirrhosis effects. The enteral nutrition contributes to rehabilitating cirrhosis. Increasing protein intake helps reduce cirrhosis. BCaB and emeral protein (Aspen, 2012). Further, the cirrhosis patients must avoid certain nutrients. One ingredient is copper. Another nutrient is chocolate. A third nutrient is shellfish. A fourth nutrient is nuts (Aspen, 2012). Furthermore, the body has special nutritional needs. The body has special nutritional needs. The body must have adequate levels of albumin and zinc. Another necessary body ingredient is prealbumin. The damaged liver produces lower amounts of the prealbumin and albumin. Consequently, the body must consume higher amounts of food that help increase the body’s albumin and prealbumin ingredients (Aspen, 2012). Involvement of other agencies: Complementary and Alternative medicine An estimated 4 out of 10 cirrhosis patients patronize complementary and alternative medicines. One of the popular cirrhosis nutrients is Vitamin E. Another nutrient product is glutathione. Another popular nutrient ingredient is composed of antioxidant cocktails and SAM. The micronutrients include glutamate, glycine, and cysteine. Thiol is another important cirrhosis treatment. Mitochondrial GSH reduces the toxic levels of the hydrogen peroxide on the liver. Replacing the liver’s depleted GSH levels enhances the liver’s functions (Aspen, 2012). Procedure of Diagnosis -Cirrhosis There are tests to determine if the person has cirrhosis. The biopsy is conducted on the patients’ liver organ. However, biopsies may damage the liver. Consequently, biopsy is only recommended when there is doubt as to whether the patients suffer from cirrhosis (Ye, 2014). Another diagnostic strategy is the patients’ family history (Ehrlich, 2014). Another diagnostic strategy to determine whether cirrhosis is present is physical examination. The physical examination will generate a report of symptoms (Fede et al., 2014). The cirrhosis liver is bigger than the normal or healthy liver. The patients’ being chronic drinkers or drug users may indicate cirrhosis is present (Page, 2012). Symptoms of Cirrhosis stages There are different cirrhosis stages. Stage 1 is characterized by the presence of inflamed liver areas, with abnormal growth of unwanted connective tissues within the liver’s portal region. Stage 2 is characterized by the presence of inflamed liver areas, with fibrosis represented by scar tissues replacing the normal tissues. The scarred tissues reduce the livers’ overall effectiveness. Stage3 indicates the liver scar tissues increased generating bridge-formed fibrosis, liver hypertension. Stage 4 indicates the liver is no longer useful, showing yellow eye coloring and jaundice (Scott, 2013). Lab Abnormalities and relationship to Cirrhosis There are lab abnormalities in cirrhosis (Wiese et al., 2014). There were platelet abnormalities. The patients may show low platelet numbers. In chronic cirrhosis, the patients’ serum ammonia status is increased. A majority of the patients suffer from hepatic encephalopathy (Ehrlich, 2014). Drug treatment of Cirrhosis The drugs are used to treat the causes of the cirrhosis (Aminoff, 2014). If the cause of the cirrhosis is hepatitis, the medical professional prescribes drugs to treat the hepatitis ailment. With the hepatitis ailment cured, further scarring of the liver is stopped. Medications to cure hepatitis include steroids, specifically corticosteroids). If the cause of the cirrhosis is chronic alcohol drinking, the medical professional requires the patients to stop drinking intoxicating liquor. Cirrhosis (its treatment) Cirrhosis can be resolve in various ways. Early detection, cardiac etiology of the liver, of the cirrhosis will stop the continuing scarring of the liver (Alkaddouretal, 2014). Drugs are used to improve the patients’ health, especially steroids (Shizuma, 2014). Stopping alcohol consumption prevents further Cirrhosis damage (Ye, 2014). Alternative Treatment of Cirrhosis There are alternative treatments for cirrhosis. One alternative treatment is the use of herbs or FZHY (Acton, 2013). The herbs include licorice root and Bupleurum. Another alternative treatment is the use of peptides to repair liver damage (Esmaelli, 2014). Involvement of other Agencies Other agencies contribute to the management or alleviation of the cirrhosis patients. The agency for healthcare research and quality focuses on the research for the latest cirrhosis rehabilitation trends (AHRQ, 2014). The office on women’s health focuses on intervention of the women cirrhosis patients (Turton, 2013). The social security system helps pay for the cirrhosis bills. Community resources There are community resources to the patient population. The American Liver Society distributes information to the general public as well as the help the cirrhosis patients (Lasley, 2011) The public library contains cirrhosis information. Insurance and Cirrhosis expense reimbursement Insurance and reimbursement reduce the financial strain of cirrhosis diagnosis treatment. Patients diagnosed with cirrhosis find it very difficult to acquire insurance corresponding insurance reimbursement of cirrhosis treatment expenses. Insurance companies prefer acceptance of the insurance application of the healthy patients over the cirrhosis patients (Barton, 2010). Conclusion There are certain avoidable ailments. Drinking, obesity, and eating salty foods increase cirrhosis incidents. Lifestyle changes stop future liver scars. Evidently, some activities will aggravate or mitigate Cirrhosis symptoms. References: Acton, Q. (2013). Cirrhosis of the Liver. New York: Scholarly Press. AHRQ. (2014). Retrieved May 9, 2014, from AHRQ: http://www.ahrq.gov/ Alkaddouretal. (2014). An Unusual Case of Cirrhosis. Gastrointestinal Medicine , 2014, 10 (2), 1-3. Aminoff, M. (2014). Aminoff's Neurology and General Medicine. New York: Elsevier Press. ASPEN, (2012). Adult Nutrition Support Core Curriculum. Silver Spring: ASPEN Barton, J. (2010). Handbook of Iron Overlaod Disorders. New York: University Press. Ehrlich, A. (2014). Introduction to Medical Terminology. New York: Cengage Learning. Esmaelli, K. (2014). Viremedy, Homepathy Remedies. New York: Viremedy Press. Fede et al. (2014). Adrenal Insufficiency in Liver Disease. Liver Journal , 3 (1), 1-5. Lasley, I. (2011). 21st Century Cancer Treatment. New York: Lasley Press. Page, K. (2012). A Parent's Guide to Substance Abuse and Addiction. New York: eBooklt Press. Scott, A. (2013). Body Structures and Functions. New York: Cengage Learning. Shizuma, T. (2014). A Patient with Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis Who Developed Autoimune Hemolytic Anemia. JSM Biotechnology Bioengineering Journal , 2 (1), 1019-1011. Suchy, F. (2014). Liver Disease. New York: University Press. Turton, T. (2013). Making the Strategy Count in the Health and Human Services Sector. New York: Springer . Wieseetal. (2014). Cirrhotic Cardiomyopahty. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology , 11 (1), 177-186. Ye, R. (2014). Alcohol Consumption and Liver Cirrhosis Mortaliy in Russia. Alcoholism & Drug Dependence , 2 (2), 152-156. Read More