Na's Hepatic Encephalopathy Case Study

1. What are the common manifestations of alcoholic cirrhosis? Which of these are secondary to

Hepatic Encephalopathy - when the liver does not efficiently function to cleanse the body of toxins and drugs, the mental state of patients may change dramatically and lead to coma, called Hepatic Encephalopathy. Treatment is directed at reducing the protein in the diet, avoiding sedatives and pain medications, and using laxatives and/or

This patient has a regular pattern of this disease and does not want to take medication because he has adapted to this lifestyle of highs and lows. Over time the patient cannot resist any help and will make a change to better their lives.

Cigarette smoke should definitely be avoided. Someone with pulmonary fibrosis should not be smoking, and even second hand smoke is unhealthy.

Cirrhosis is a condition of scarring of the liver which is caused when the liver has tried repairing itself following damage. This damage may come from a previous infection, such as from a form of hepatitis (usually hepatitis C) or damage done by the use of toxins, such as alcohol. Cirrhosis is irreversible but future damage can be slowed or prevented by treating the underlying cause.

Tobacco use is abused in today’s world. Each day there are more than 32,000 people under the age 18 will smoke their first cigarette. Appoximatley 2,100 youth and young adults will become every day smokers. There is an estimate of 42.1 million smokers is the united States. Smoking is a very dangerous habit. It is in the top ten causes of death in America. More than 16 million Americans already have a disease from smoking. More than 20 million Americans have died from smoking related deaths since 1964. 8.6 million people are living with a serious disease caused by smoking. On average smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than non smokers. These are some very simple facts about the general health of smoking. Respiatory disese is bound to

The liver is the largest gland and second largest organ in the human body. It is also the only internal organ capable of regeneration following injury. Located in the abdominal cavity, this reddish brown organ is divided into lobes of different size and shape. The liver plays a critical role in metabolism, digestion, elimination, and detoxification, among other processes. This organ performs a surprisingly large number of functions that influence virtually all other body systems. This is why diseases of the liver can be so devastating. One class of chronic diseases affecting the liver is cirrhosis. (Kasper, 2008)

Liver cirrhosis is a life threatening disease and is irreversible. It is therefore of utmost

About 50% of Americans actually have liver disease but most symptoms are very dull and unnoticeable that people do pay attention or not aware of them. The most common symptoms for severe liver disease include prominent yellowing of skin and eyes, very dark tinted urine, light colored stool or bowel movements, mental confusion and continued possession of liquids in abdominal area. The 50% of American mentioned previously have a slight liver disease due to drinking an excessive amount. There are simple guidelines to follow that differ from man to female when it comes to drinking. Males can handle alcohol more efficiently than women. Not only does alcohol ruin the liver many over the counter drugs do like Tylenol. Take in mind the liver is the bodies filter everything that comes in it must go through the liver so it is safe for the consumer. A liver can only handle so much at one time that is why people become intoxicated due to the fact that they do not give their liver enough time to process all the alcohol. In doing this the liver gets severely damaged, although the liver the magical organ can regenerate itself people tend to drink like alcoholics and that is when liver disease because an issue. Indeed there must be about 75% damage to the liver to start experiencing failure in bodily functions. On occasion liver failure is reversible if not all cells are damaged but if so then the

The symptoms associated with the syndrome are hypoglycemia, encephalopathy, fatty liver, elevated ammonia levels in the blood and elevated liver function enzymes. This lack of mitochondrial metabolism can explain the hypoglycemia due to the body being unable to create ATP. With the lack of ATP production, the body would naturally deplete its glucose stores to gain more energy. The metabolic failure in the liver causes the elevated liver function enzymes, elevated ammonia levels, and over time the fatty liver. The encephalopathy is caused by the increased

Symptoms may range from minor signs of impairment of brain function to clear neurological and / or psychiatric signs up to deep coma. Asterixis has a good orientation value for the diagnosis, although it is not specific to the hepatic origin of encephalopathy. There is usually a hepatic fetor. Convulsive seizures are possible. Encephalopathy may also occur in chronic form, manifested by a permanent psychomotor slowing or evoking a psychiatric

One of the indispensable organs in the human's body is the liver. It's extremely hard to live without a sound liver because of its impacts about every organ in the human body. The fundamental characteristic of disease that influence the liver are focal liver diseases and diffused liver diseases. The diffused liver diseases harm the whole liver surface, for example cirrhotic and fatty. Focal liver diseases which affect the small area of the liver surface, such as Carcinoma (HCC), Hemangioma (Hem), and Cyst. The Figure 2 represents the US images of the three focal liver diseases of the liver.

Over their lifetime they will come in contact with several people and departments to help manage their care. A patient will have several trips to the lab, imagining department, and primary care provider. Depending on the comfort of the primary care provider a patient can be referred to a hepatologists. This doctor specializes in the liver and can help prevent, manage, and treat this disease. A diagnosis of NASH can be life changing and health care providers must be consciousness of this and help prevent any secondary diagnosis, for example: depression. Counseling and pastor services could be utilized for this patient

In decompensated cirrhosis, patient can develop jaundice, ascites or encephalopaty (Bedossa and Poynard, 1996). The risk for decompensation is estimated to be 5% per year in cirrhotics (Poynard et al., 1997). Once patient developed decompensation, the 5-year survival rate is reaching upto 50% (Planas et al., 2004). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) developed in patients with cirrhosis and liver transplantation is then the only effective therapy (Kim, 2002).

Patient also, has history of hypertension, GERD, morbid obesity, anemia, and depression. She reported that the past few months, she has been feeling very weak and overall generalized deconditioning. Her ability to care for herself including her activities of daily living (ADLs), and her basic physical needs (like bathing, grooming, ambulation, meal preparation, transportation, errands, and housekeeping), had decreased, and cannot consistently carry them out.