how much time does a women have to live when they have liver failure/disease? help me please No one can tell you exactly how long a person
can live after liver failure/disease. The doctors
can take an estimated guess from what their
tests shows and the symptoms and conditions the patient may have. It gives them a general
idea.
Let me explain: the liver is usually a
non complaining organ and many people can
walk around not only looking healthy but
appear to be healthy never knowing they have
a liver problem. Most times, it isn't until the
liver can no longer perform the functions, it once
did, that people will develop symptoms of this
disease. The first symptom is usually the
skin and whites of the eyes turning yellow.
It is best to go outside in natural light to see
this, as being inside can mask the color.
There are many things that can cause liver
failure: drinking alcohol, being around toxic
chemicals, overdose or a reaction to drugs,
viral infections such as Hepatitis, heredity,
retaining too much iron or copper in the body,
metabolic disorders, etc.
Usually it starts out as inflammation of the
liver cells. This can be treated with medication
so the liver cells will heal. If not treated, it
can lead to death of the liver cells, known
as cirrhosis. Once cirrhosis develops, it
may be only in one part of the liver or it
could be throughout the liver. If it is
throughout the liver, the patient may go into
"Complete" liver failure faster. What is
the difference between liver failure and
complete liver failure? Liver failure means
that the liver is not functioning up to par.
Complete liver failure means that the liver
is no longer able to perform the functions
it once did to help the body continue to live.
The symptom that usually occurs first is the yellowing...this yellowing is known
as Jaundice...as the disease progresses,
fluid can start to build up in the abdomen...
this is known as Ascites and the legs and feet
may swell, known as Edema. A patient may
develop difficulty with their memory and
thinking also known as Encephalopathy.
Here is a link to learn more about the
what causes cirrhosis and its symptoms:
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases...
If a person is in liver failure caused by cirrhosis,
they should consider now to be placed on
the transplant list. They will go through
testing, as the evaluation process, to be placed
on this list and this takes time.
This site here will explain about organ
transplant...http://www.unos.org/
This site here is a patients guide to see
about what all is involved in receiving a
transplant...it is a very good site:
http://www.surgery.usc.edu/divisions/hep...
There is no cure for cirrhosis as yet, though
it is in research to develop one. Some people
will try clinical trials that are available.
Cirrhosis is a disease where scar tissue
develops inside the liver when the cells die...
this scar tissue causes the living cells to
become crowded out and block their
nourishment and oxygen they need to live and
then more cells die. It is a continuing process
that can be slowed, but not stopped.
Till they can someway find a way to remove
this scar tissue or keep it from forming...it
is unlikely they will find a cure for this disease.
I hope this has been of some help to you
in understanding more about this. |
