Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) [India], January 27: Long-term abuse of alcohol can have serious consequences. Drinkers should be aware of the dangers and signs of liver cirrhosis – an illness caused by drinking too much over an extended period.
Cirrhosis is is a permanent scaring that causes interference with the liver thus damaging its functioning. It is sometimes know as end-stage liver disease, and comes after the other stages of damage, including inflammation (hepatitis), fatty deposits (steatosis) and increased stiffness and mild-scarring of your liver (fibrosis).
In the early stages, people suffering with the condition will see their body adjust to compensate for your reduced liver function, however it is not totally obvious. Eventually, as the liver function declines further symptoms will become a lot more evident.
The most common causes of cirrhosis are drinking too much alcohol over an extended period of time (years), being infected with hepatitis for a long time, particularly hepatitis B or C; and severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, where the liver becomes inflamed from a build-up of excess fat.
The condition is classified as compensated or decompensated, which are:
- Compensated cirrhosis is where the liver is coping with the damage and maintaining its important functions.
- With decompensated cirrhosis, the liver is not able to perform all its functions adequately. People with decompensated liver disease or cirrhosis often have serious symptoms and complications such as portal hypertension, bleeding varices, ascites and hepatic encephalopathy.
There are a number of symptoms attributed to liver cirrhosis, but these can come in different stages.
Early symptoms to look out for:
- generally feeling unwell and tired all the time
- loss of appetite
- loss of weight and muscle wasting
- feeling sick (nausea) and vomiting
- tenderness/pain in the liver area
- spider-like small blood capillaries on the skin above waist level (spider angiomas)
- blotchy red palms
- disturbed sleep pattern
Later symptoms:
- intensely itchy skin
- yellowing of the whites of the eyes and the skin (jaundice)
- white nails
- ends of fingers become wider/thicker (clubbed fingers)
- hair loss
- swelling of the legs, ankles, feet (oedema)
- swelling of the abdomen (ascites)
- dark urine
- pale-coloured stools or very dark/black tarry stools
- frequent nosebleeds and bleeding gums
- easy bruising and difficulty in stopping small bleeds
- vomiting blood
- frequent muscle cramps
- right shoulder pain
- in men: enlarged breasts and shrunken testes
- in women: irregular or lack of menstrual periods
- impotence and loss of sexual desire
- dizziness and extreme fatigue (anaemia)
- shortness of breath
- very rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
- fevers with high temperature and shivers
- forgetfulness, memory loss, confusion and drowsiness
- subtle change in personality
- trembling hands
- writing becomes difficult, spidery and small
- staggering gait when walking; tendency to fall
- increased sensitivity to drugs, both medical and recreational
- increased sensitivity to alcohol
However, there are a number of ‘red flag’ symptoms to keep an eye out for. The experts say you must see a doctor as soon as they present, especially if you’ve already been diagnosed with cirrhosis.
Red flag symptoms
- fever with high temperatures and shivers, often caused by an infection
- shortness of breath
- vomiting blood
- very dark or black tarry stools (faeces)
- periods of mental confusion or drowsiness
