Portal Hypertension Paper

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

One of these symptoms is jaundice, which is characterized by yellowish skin and eyes because of an inability of the liver to remove bilirubin from the blood. Patient with cirrhosis also suffering from itching, due to deposited bile's products in the skin. This patient also suffers from accumulation of fluid in legs that is called edema. As a result of the blockage of blood flow via the liver, fluid accumulation in abdomen which is worsen by the decrease in protein production. Other symptoms include fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, weight loss and nausea. As the disease progress, complications may develop ,such as varices that happens with cirrhosis patient when the blood flow through the liver slows, so the blood from intestine go back to the vessels of the stomach and esophagus, these vessels are not meant to carry this much of blood so they dilate (varices), with increasing

According to the Merck Manual (2013), hyperlipidaemia is the increased synthesis of hepatic lipoproteins. Marieb (2012) explains that lipoproteins enable fat, fatty acids and cholesterol to circulate in the blood stream. They cannot do this alone due to their insolubility so they use lipoproteins as a type of transport. Nelson (2013) highlights four different varieties of lipoproteins which are chylomicrons, very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL).

Malignant hypertension is an inherited condition. It occurs when the patient has a severe reaction caused by being exposed to certain drugs used as a part of the anesthesia for surgical procedures. It can be fatal if it is not treated quickly. In most cases, there are no signs or symptoms until the reaction occurs.

Additionally, many chronic liver diseases can lead to cirrhosis. For example, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can lead to cirrhosis and is associated with obesity, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hereditary metabolic disorders such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease can also lead to cirrhosis (McCance & Heuther, 2014). It seems the cause of cirrhosis is multifaceted. Additionally, many diseases can lead to cirrhosis and it is understandable why the etiology of cirrhosis has not been parsed out, especially because the cause can differ from a

Many people find out about hypertension only when they suffer a heart attack or get a medical check-up done. Hypertension is a life-threatening condition characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries leading to the lungs and heart. Unlike regular hypertension or high blood pressure, hypertension occurs when the arteries in the lungs become blocked or narrow, making it harder for the heart to pump blood through them. This raises blood pressure in the lungs and causes the heart to weaken, which may eventually lead to heart failure. Hypertension is also dangerous because it can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, or kidney disease. So the goal of hypertension treatment is to lower high blood pressure and protect important organs, like the brain, heart, and kidneys from damage.

Cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. Cirrhosis affects one of the largest organs in the body, the liver. It is a condition that slowly worsens the liver and is unable to function normally due to chronic injury. Cirrhosis consists of four stages with the fourth stage being the most advanced stage of cirrhosis. When healthy liver cells are damaged and replaced by scar tissue (fibrosis) it’s known as a degenerative disease called cirrhosis. Chronic alcoholism is the leading cause of cirrhosis due to excessive drinking of alcohol, which causes the liver to swell. In sequence with alcoholism and hepatitis C, or alone obesity can be a risk factor in developing cirrhosis. Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease that can affect many individuals if the condition is not caught in early stages it can become deadly.

Portal hypertension is usually estimated by the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG). Normally, HVPG ranges from 3 to 5 mmHg. In the compensated stage of cirrhosis, patients initially have moderate portal hypertension (>6 to <10 mmHg) with a low risk of decompensation. However, as portal hypertension progresses to clinically significant levels (HVPG of ≥10 mmHg), the risk for developing decompensated cirrhosis increases. Portal hypertension is a key driver of many of the clinical consequences of cirrhosis (Berzigotti et al., 2013).

My first priority will be to deal with this patient's pain score, a score of 7/10. Pain score is measured as 0 being no pain at all and 10 being the worst pain the patient can imagine (Crisp et al., 2013). The presence of pain will often increase vital signs (Nworah & DeBakey, 2012) which is evident in Mr Jensens case where he is experiencing a tachycardia and tachypnoea, hypertension would usually follow but due to this particular patients hypovolaemia, he does not have enough cardiac output to for hypertension.

The liver is essential to digestion and subsequent metabolic processes. It is a plays a large part in the processing of carbohydrates and lipids. As carbohydrates are absorbed in the small intestine, they are first brought to the liver via the portal vein. Depending on the needs of the body, the liver will either store excess glucose as glycogen or breakdown glycogen to release glucose into the bloodstream. Lipids are not soluble in water and cannot be efficiently absorbed without bile produced by the liver. Bile emulsifies fats and allows lipase, an essential protease produced by the pancreas, to effectively break down complex lipids for absorption.

Hypertension (HT), defined as a chronic elevation of systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure (BP), is in all probability the most common chronic disease today. Clinically hypertension is not a disease at usual sense it is a risk factor for many future vascular diseases1,2. In human body blood pressure is maintained by several factors such as kidney, sympathetic nervous system, hormonal mechanisms along with the diet taken. These include lipids, magnesium, sodium, potassium and the total energy intake3.

Cirrhosis is known as a chronic disease of the liver. Cirrhosis usually develops when the scar tissue replaces normal, healthy tissue in the liver. It tends to happen whenever healthy cells are damaged over a long amount of time, usually for many years. However, the scar tissue makes the liver lumpy and hard, after a while, the organs will start to fail and the scar tissue makes it tough for the blood to get through a large vein (the portal vein) that goes into the liver. Occasionally when the blood backs up into the portal vein, it can get into the spleen (an abdominal organ involved in the production and removal of blood cells) and can really cause trouble. What causes this is other liver conditions or diseases the person may already have, which includes an (alcohol-related liver disease) by drinking too much alcohol for many years non-stop. It causes fat and inflammation in the liver. The amount of alcohol that it takes to hurt the liver is different for everyone.

intestines carrying nutrients and toxins cannot flow to the liver, backups into the portal vein

Hypertension is defined as the amount of pressure blood flow exerts into the arteries. This becomes a problem because hypertension ultimately puts an added force against the walls of the arteries making them more susceptible to not only narrowing of the artery walls but to plaque build-up as well. The added force associated with hypertension also begins to diminish the elasticity and strength of the artery walls which limits the amount of blood flow that can reach the myocardium.

The liver is a vital organ which has multiple functions to keep the body operating normally. The liver stores vitamins, sugar and iron to help give the human body energy. It controls the production and removal of cholesterol and clears the blood of waste products, drugs and other toxins. Furthermore, the liver makes clotting factors to prevent excessive bleeding after cuts or injuries. The liver produces immune factors and clears away bacteria