How A Healthy Liver Is Necessary For Survival, And When The Threat Of Liver Cancer Essay

The medical practice of organ transplantation has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years. Each year the medical profession takes more risk with decisions regarding transplants, how to allocate for organs, and most recently conducting transplants on children with adult organs. “An organ transplantation is a surgical operation where a failing or damaged organ in the human body is removed and replaced with a new one” (Caplan, 2009). Not all organs can be transplanted. The term “organ transplant” typically refers to transplants of solid organs: heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and intestines. There are two ways of receiving an organ transplant: from a living human or an organ from a

As the Directors at the Sharp Rees Medical Facility, we will be talking about the liver. The liver is a very important organ in the human body as it does not just perform one function but is involved in multiple tasks. Some interesting facts about the liver; it weighs under five pounds, it has a shape like a half football and everyone is born with one. Just like most other disease or disorder, if the liver has not been taken care of properly there are many negative outcomes that can affect and destroy the liver. There are many complications when the liver is abused or damage for example cancer, hemochromatosis, gallbladder or

I am passionate about scientific developments and how these advancements will help shape the future, with man-made organs being a specific area of interest. Having researched the damage suffered by the liver due to alcohol abuse, I was astonished at the fact that there presently aren’t any effective treatments as a solution to this widespread problem. The need for liver transplants are greater now than ever and to meet our society’s growing demand, researchers must

Cirrhosis is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and the thirteenth leading cause of death worldwide.1 Cirrhosis is the irreversible fibrosis of the liver characterized by hepatic architectural distortion secondary to fibrous tissue and the formation of regenerative nodules.2 These anatomical changes cause hepatic vascular resistance and an increase in blood flow leading to portal hypertension. Porto-systemic collaterals develop in order to overcome the increased portal pressure gradient.3 Nitric oxide, an endogenous vasodilator is also released in effort to overcome portal pressure with the expense of causing systemic vasodilation and a decrease in blood pressure. As a result, a marked activation of neurohumoral vasoactive factors occurs in an effort to maintain an effective arterial blood pressure. Hypervolemia, increased cardiac index, decreased systemic vascular resistance, and systemic hypotension are manifestations of portal hypertension.3 Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), alcoholism, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are all major causes of cirrhosis.

In order for transplants to be successful, there are steps that should be followed. From the beginning, the correct information should be given prior to

Dr. Ruiz’s current research interest is combined liver and kidney transplantation and hepatorenal syndrome. He has published a total of 24 peer review articles which can be viewed at this link (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Ruiz+RM.) He makes approximately four presentations a year: American Transplant Conference, Liver Disease Conference, American Association of the Study of Liver Diseases, and the American Surgical Association. Dr. Ruiz’s current activity is running the Baylor Hispanic Kidney Transplant Clinic.

According to the American Liver Foundation, a healthy liver cleans blood, fights infection processes food and stores energy. The liver is able to regenerate itself, but when it becomes too damaged or is prevented from regenerating, it will fail and no longer be able to keep able to keep one alive (2015). Despite its ability to regenerate, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis is the twelfth leading cause of death of death in the United States. My interest in further exploring liver related deaths is the due to the impact that liver disease has had on my family. My young cousin was born with a malignant tumor on her liver and spent the first several years of her life undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy. She survived the treatment and at the age of 4 was free of cancer. At the age of 24 she was told that her liver was beginning the process of failure and she would need to be put on the transplant liver for long-term survival. My grandmother died of cirrhosis of the liver and my father, after 3 years of treatment for melanoma, was diagnosed with liver failure. He had a procedure to prolong the useful life of his liver, but the damage to his liver will not allow his liver to regenerate and it will likely be liver failure which leads to his death.

From my experience with my brother, who had a liver transplant. My brother had to take medication every day. He was taking up to 4 medical pills a day. He had to check his blood pressure every day and attend doctor visits every week. The author spoke about the discomfort from the procedure. She had needles every day. Her arms were red and swollen. She would cover her arms so no one would notice.

Presently, a severe discrepancy exists between the number of liver transplant candidates and the number of donor livers available for transplantation in the United States. The National Institute of Health (NIH) reports alcohol cirrhosis is the second most common reason for requiring a liver transplant. The current data regarding deaths of listed liver transplant candidates raises concern regarding the distribution and allocation of donor organs. Controversy currently exists regarding liver transplant criteria, specifically aimed at the selection of patients who will remain recovered from alcoholism post-transplant. Liver transplant selection criteria is compounded by additional factors such as the current inadequate supply of donor livers,

There are almost seventeen thousand people waiting for a liver and the doctors don’t think they can get one in time for your friend”.[1]

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of normal, healthy liver tissue by fibrotic scar tissue, blocking the flow of blood through the organ and preventing it from working as it should, as well as regenerative nodules leading to progressive loss of liver function. The liver, the largest organ in the body, is vital in keeping the body functioning properly. It removes or neutralizes poisons from the blood, produces immune agents to control infection, and removes germs and bacteria from the blood. It

Over five hundred thousand United States patients have saved and improved their lives from an organ transplant. Long-term heavy drinking and drug usage leads to chronic liver disease to the patient here in United States and worldwide. The first human organ transplantation successfully was done on kidney in 1954 (UNOS, 2017). As of today, more than 118,000 qualified patients are waiting for this precious organ transplant. Out of those, over 14,400 qualified patients are waiting to receive a liver transplant. To overcome the long waiting period and the shortage of liver organ, keeping people with high-risk behavior on the waiting list is only fair. The patient needs to be responsible for their risky behavior, and they have the choice to minimize the risk exposure.

Based on the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), the number of waitlisted older adults (> 65 years) for liver transplantation has significantly increased in the past decade from 9.9% (1,637) in 2001 to 16% (2,460) in 2011 (22). The demand for liver transplantation is expected to increase with high rates of Hepatitis C infection among individuals born between 1945- 1965 who are at risk for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (23). Given the increasing numbers

The article “Nutritional Requirements of Adults Before Transplantation” by Hwai-Ding Lam, MD, explains concerns regarding the nutritional management of organ transplant patients both pre and post-operatively. Nutritional assessments are important pre-operatively to determine if the patient is an appropriate candidate, and post-operatively to determine a plan of care. The conditions examined include end-stage liver disease, end-stage renal failure, end-stage heart failure, end-stage pulmonary failure, and irreversible intestinal failure. The article focuses on early assessment of the nutritional status of patients with goals including replenishing malnourished patients, maintaining the muscle and energy of patients with adequate muscle and energy reserve, encouraging weight loss in patients based on body mass index, and managing the patient’s symptoms to maximize their quality of life.

This report will discuss how liver cancer affects the liver. I will discuss the how liver cancer affects the normal operation of the liver, what causes liver cancer, how this cancer can be detected and how this cancer can be treated. I will conclude with a discussion of how common liver cancer is.