What´s Liver Failure?

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

Human organ failure has a long history. Since a long time, people have been suffering and eventually dying because one or more of their organ(s) stopped functioning. The advent of the concept of organ transplantation came as an important breakthrough in the medical field, in the 20th century. The idea behind organ

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

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

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.

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

The liver’s most important functions include the removal and excretion of wastes and toxins found within the body (Mehter and Sateesha, 2002). Many substances can enter the blood supply by either metabolic

In this article in Medical News Today Ohio State University is developing technology for keeping liver cells alive and functioning normally inside bioartificial liver assist devices (BLAD). These devices allow people who are suffering from liver failure to survive while their own liver cells regenerate, or receive a liver transplant. The person's blood or plasma circulates through the device . Andre Palmer a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State developed a way to chemically modify and package hemoglobin, which is red blood cells that transports oxygen to liver cells in order for them to survive. The body's liver cells are naturally exposed to a different oxygen concentrations called oxygen gradient. Reproducing that oxygen gradient inside bioartificial liver assist device is difficult. In his experiment his solution for producing this gradient has been to create different kinds of hemoglobin .

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by infections, autoimmune diseases, and toxic substances. According to Word Health Organization, there are five types of hepatitis that are a major concern. These five types include; Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. These are a major concern because they can cause severe illness, death, outbreaks and epidemics. Hepatitis can progress into scarring, liver cancer or cirrhosis.

As cirrhosis progresses, the hardened tissues being formed stop the liver from functioning properly. The buildup of scar tissue prevents blood flow through the liver and slows down toxin and nutrient processing. The production of substances made by the liver is also delayed (WebMD, 2014). As stated in WebMD, 2014, symptoms of cirrhosis include: loss of appetite, lack of energy (fatigue), weight loss or weight gain, bruises, yellowing of skin or the whites of eyes (jaundice), itchy skin, fluid retention (edema) and swelling, a brownish or orange tint to the urine, light colored stools, confusion, disorientation, personality changes, blood in the stool, and

Four years ago, one of our long time family friend was diagnosed with Cirrhosis. This is a disease of the liver that causes scarring and inflammation of the liver. The liver cells affected by cirrhosis start to degenerate and affect functions of the liver. For sometime before, he had symptoms of abdominal and legs swelling, blood in the stool and was suddenly gaining weight. The doctor described his condition as end of liver stage disease that is preventing proper blood flow through the liver and recommended transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure to be performed.

Sign and Symptoms can be Jaundice yellowing of the skin which can occur from high levels of bilirubin in the liver (normal bilirubin levels are 0.1 to 1 mg/DL, Fatigue, Bleeding more easily, Bruising easily, Itchy skin, Fluid accumulation in your abdomen (ascites) may result from the liver being unable to produce albumin to attract water in the blood vessels, swelling in your legs, weight loss, Spider Like blood vessels of your skin, and Portal Hypertension can be caused by the blockage of blood flow through the liver and that causes the blood pressure to rise in the portal vein.

Liver failure occurs in stages. Initially, the symptoms are vague and easily overlooked. A person might notice that they don't have much of an appetite anymore because they frequently feel nauseous. Their stomach might be distended, and frequent bouts

Hepatitis is defined as an irritation of the liver and is an infectious disease that is caused by viruses, alcohol and medications that attacks the liver. When the virus gets into the liver, the liver becomes inflamed. The body’s immune system tries to fight off the virus with lymphocytes and in the end the liver is destroyed more. Fibrosis occurs because of the scarring of the liver. When the scarring gets so bad the blood flow slows down and causes cirrhosis of the liver. Blood begins to back up and leak into organs in the body. The function of the liver is to manufacture proteins and to regulate transportation of fat stored and to control production and excretion of cholesterol. There are six types of Hepatitis A, B, C, D,

8. “One out of every 10 Americans is affected by liver disease. Liver disease is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. The liver supports almost every organ in the body and is vital for survival. Because of its location and many functions, the liver is prone to many diseases. There are over 100 liver diseases. The liver is necessary for survival; currently there is no way for the body to compensate for the absence of a functioning liver in the long term, although liver dialysis techniques can be used in the short term. The liver does have a great capacity to regenerate and has a large reserve