Is the disease Walter had also called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis? No, Payton was suffering from primary sclerosing cholangitis and needed a liver transplant. His physician, Dr. Greg Gores of the Mayo Clinic, said Payton was subsequently diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct, a vessel that carries digestive fluids from the liver to the small intestine.
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis is a different illness PBC is a chronic liver disease that causes slow, progressive destruction of bile ducts in the liver. This destruction interferes with the excretion of bile. Continued liver inflammation causes scarring and eventually leads to cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is present only in the later stage of the disease. In the early stages of the illness, the main problem is the build up of substances (like bile acids, cholesterol) in the blood, which are normally excreted into the bile. Ursodeoxycholic acid is a life-saving, safe, and approved therapy. Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, which soon led to the growth of a cancerous tumor on his liver. Payton spent his final months alive as an advocate for organ transplants, appearing in many commercials to encourage others to donate organs...... I saw this in an article on his death...
"Payton died of bile duct cancer that was discovered during his treatment earlier this year for primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease" |
