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Cirrhosis of the liver causes symptoms such as fatigue, jaundice, bruising, and bleeding stomach ulcers. As the disease progresses, symptoms become more severe, including fluid retention, frequent bruising, nosebleeds, and vomiting blood. A doctor can diagnose the disease through physical examination, blood tests, and imaging. Treatment may include medication, lifestyle changes, or a liver transplant.
Symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver vary depending on how far the disease has progressed, but can include fatigue, jaundice, bruising, and even bleeding stomach ulcers. Cirrhosis of the liver is a progressive medical condition in which healthy liver tissue turns into scar tissue, causing the liver to malfunction. Blood is unable to flow to the liver due to scar tissue, thus preventing the processing of hormones, nutrients, drugs and toxins.
Early in the disease, many people do not recognize the symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver. Eventually, they may just feel tired or weak. Sometimes people will also experience nausea or lack of appetite during the early stages. Unfortunately, these vague signs are easily overlooked or misdiagnosed.
As the disease gets worse, the symptoms usually become more severe. For example, jaundice, a yellowing of the eyes and skin, can occur because the liver can’t work properly to remove bilirubin from the bloodstream. Other people may notice that their nails may look more club-like or may be white in color, rather than pink. Some people may experience fluid retention in the abdomen or legs, as the damaged liver cannot remove excess fluid from the body. They may also have a fever, blood in the stools, and orange or brown colored urine.
Other common symptoms of cirrhosis include frequent bruising and nosebleeds. These symptoms occur because the liver is responsible for making clotting proteins. When the liver is damaged by cirrhosis, it is unable to make clotting proteins. Without these proteins, blood cannot clot properly, and symptoms such as bruising and nosebleeds are common.
If the disease is not treated, the symptoms can become very severe. For example, untreated individuals may begin vomiting blood. This can be the result of stomach ulcers or varicose veins in the esophagus that are leaking blood. If left untreated for long periods of time, the individual may suffer from hepatic encephalopathy. With hepatic encephalopathy, toxins that are usually removed from a healthy liver travel to the brain where they can cause the brain to malfunction and can lead to coma.
Once the symptoms of liver cirrhosis are recognized, a doctor will likely make the final diagnosis. He can do this through a physical examination of the liver and blood tests to determine if the liver is not working properly. An ultrasound or computed tomography (CT) scan may also be recommended. Once diagnosed, many people begin taking medications, making lifestyle changes, or even receiving a liver transplant to treat the disease.
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