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Cirrhosis of the liver is when a normal healthy liver is damaged enough that sections of it become replaced with scar tissue. This could be due to a number of reasons such as lifestyle diseases like alcoholism and drug use, viruses like hepatitis, or by ingesting chemicals. Cirrhosis is one of the most preventable diseases in the world but you have to know what to avoid.

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis but is also the most preventable cause. Alcohol gets filtered through the liver causing damage while this process is taking place. This leads to scarring of the liver and can affect the bile ducts. Cirrhosis doesn't show any noticeable effects for years or even decades but as little as 4 drinks each day can eventually be harmful. Alcoholism is categorized as a disease but many people can successfully recover from it.

Viruses such as hepatitis also attack the liver. There are many forms of hepatitis that people can be exposed to. Tainted food, unprotected sex, and needle sharing each have their own strain of hepatitis that could possibly be fatal. Tainted blood transfusions used to contribute to hepatitis C infections but measures have been taken to prevent that. Luckily, each type of the hepatitis virus can be treated successfully with the exception of hepatitis C. Even hepatitis C has a good recovery rate if caught and treated early with about 6 months of injections and pills.

Consumption of chemicals and medications can also lead to cirrhosis. Many common medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol and Vicodin), and methylphenidate (Ritalin) can cause cirrhosis if someone takes more than they are supposed to take. This does take years of abuse before anything noticeable happens. As long as prescription and over the counter medications are taken with the advice of a doctor, there are usually no problems but people can become dependent on pain medication.

A complication that may arise with cirrhosis is hepatic encephalopathy in which toxins accumulate in the blood and brain. This causes a number of potentially fatal conditions and might even lead to a coma.

Cirrhosis kills around 27,000 people every year but steps are being taken to lower that number. New antiviral medicines are helping with the various forms of hepatitis as well as very strict screening processes for blood donors and increased use of needle-sharing programs.

Learn more about this author, Don Rainwater.
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