The Human Body Is The Liver

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

* Edema: abnormal accumulation of fluid (aka swelling). This is important for cirrhosis because when the tissue starts turning into scar tissue, the kidneys retain more salt. This increase in salt and water causes the visualized swelling. As time progresses, this swelling can affect abdomen area of the body, making edema secondary to hepatocellular failure since it is the tissue cell morphing that causes edema to manifest.

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.

This case study is about Abdul Chidiac, a 51 year old male, married with 4 children. He had a medical history of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and cirrhosis with two admissions in the last six months. He is a smoker and drinks beer, 5-6 bottles per day. As Carithers & McClain (2010) explained the patient’s medical history is another indicator of the risk for cirrhosis; the progression to cirrhosis is adaptable and may take time over weeks or many years. Cirrhosis is a liver disease characterized by permanent scarring of the

But cirrhosis slows the normal flow of blood through the portal vein, which increases the pressure inside.

Ammonium is absorbed in the intestines. It is used to create bicarb using carbon dioxide and oxygen. The bi-product that is left is ammonia. It is excreted as urea. When there is cirrhosis in the liver, the urea cycle cannot occur normally. This may be due to hepatocyte death or issues with circulation caused by portal hypertension. When the circulation is compromised, the liver is unable to remove toxins from the bloodstream and convert the ammonia to urea. Thus, causing a buildup of ammonia and toxins in the the bloodstream. This buildup of toxins interferes and worsens brain function. This would be observed more with decompensated liver function where liver function is impaired and manifestations of liver failure are present. In compensated cirrhosis, there is still some liver function still occurring. Therefore, there are four stages that occur with hepatic encephalopathy. All are directly related to the decreased function of the liver (Ignatavicius, 2013, pg 1295).

Tomas Smith is a 60 years old Native American male who presents with chief complaint of abdominal pain and weakness. After history and examination, I feel the diagnosis is most likely liver failure. Differential diagnosis includes, but not limited to pancreatitis, cholecystitis, and appendicitis. The patient is hemodynamically stable

Physical examination was normal except the presence of joundice. He had no history of any chronic illness, drugs or chemicals. He stated that he had a sleeve gastrectomy operation 6 months ago for obesity and he was on low caloric intake due to early satiety since sleeve gastrectomy. Preoperative laboratory studies before the gastrectomy were obtained and reevaluated. All were normal except mild indirect hyperbilirubinemia (serum total bilirubin: 1,4 mg/dl, indirect bilirubin: 1,2 mg/dl). On admission to our clinic his laboratory studies were as follows: AST: 14 U/L ALT: 16 U/L ALP: 45 U/L GGT: 28 U/L total bilirubin: 6,58 mg/dl, indirect bilirubin: 6 mg/dl, direct bilirubin: 0,58 mg/dl . Serologic tests for viral hepatitis (HBs Ag, anti HBc Ig G, anti HCV, anti HAV Ig M) were all negative. There were no clinical and laboratory sign of hemolysis; Hb: 15,2 g/dL, Hct: 44,1, Plt: 208.000 /µL and reticulocyte count was %0,5. Abdominal ultrasound showed the presence of multiple stones in the gallbladder. Common bile duct and biliary tree were found to be normal in MRCP and endosonography. Gilbert’s syndrome was diagnosed and phenobarbital 30 mg/day was initiated. Serum bilirubin concentration dropped gradually (total bilirubin: 3,5 mg/dl, indirect bilirubin: 3 mg/dl) in one week and the patient was

Cirrhosis of the Liver - The failure of the liver cells to renew themselves as they wear out, and are

A 45 years female suffer from ascites five months ago, fatigue, loss of appetite, yellow skin and weight loss. We did for her many laboratory tests to check liver and kidney function. She had high level of certain and bilirubin and that was indicate liver

However, sometimes the liver gets overwhelmed and can't repair itself completely, especially if it's still under attack from a virus, drug, or alcohol. Scar tissue develops, which becomes difficult to reverse, and can lead to cirrhosis.

Acute liver failure is an unusual but life-threatening critical illness, which arises without preexisting liver disease and always supervenes high mortality. The 30s adults in good condition are main sufferers of acute liver failure. The clinical features commonly include: abnormal liver biochemical values, hepatic dysfunction and coagulopathy. Encephalopathy may also occur with multiorgan failure, which cause 50% of death.

liver, fatigue, pain in upper right abdomen, ascites, enlarged spleen, red palms, yellowing of the skin and

On the contrary; Ceaseless liver infection alone might need a impact on the work Furthermore electrophysiology of the heart for nonattendance for other cardiovascular malady. This mind boggling is all things considered named cirrhotic cardiomyopathy that influences the tolerant prognosis and disturbs the span Throughout obtrusive methods for example, such that surgery, insertion of a trans jugular intrahepatic porto systemic shunt (TIPS), Also orthotropic liver transplantation (OLT) (Moller Furthermore Bernardi, 2013).