The liver takes on numerousTolfioow functions in our body, such as breaking down toxins and storing nutrients. With our lifestyle, we can nurture them, but we can also damage them and cause potentially fatal liver damage. Here are 3 most common causes of liver cirrhosis.
While the liver can take a beating, years of abuse from toxins, unhealthy foods, and inflammation scar the tissue and lose its function. Such liver cirrhosis can have many causes. In addition to some rare hereditary diseases and drug side effects, the following 3 risk factors in particular lead to the death of liver cells.
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Cirrhosis of the Liver: The 3 Most Common Causes of Liver Damage
1. Chronic alcohol consumption
If you drink a glass of wine or a bottle of beer from time to time, you don’t have to worry about liver damage. However, daily or regular consumption can lead to irreversible cirrhosis of the liver within about 10 years . The organ is simply overwhelmed with the constant processing and breakdown of alcohol , which is why liver cells perish and scar tissue forms. The amounts from which this happens varies from person to person – for men there is a daily upper limit of a maximum of two to three glasses of beer or wine, for women the limit values are significantly lower. The after-work beer or the red wine with the meal should therefore be measured carefully and preferably not every day.
2. Hepatitis C
Similarly, the hepatitis C virus is the cause of cirrhosis of the liver. Infection with hepatitis triggers inflammation in the liver, which becomes chronic in about 80 percent of cases and can lead to liver cirrhosis. In contrast to hepatitis B, which is the most common cause of liver cirrhosis worldwide, there is still no vaccine for hepatitis C. There is an increased risk of infection when using contaminated syringes or contaminated instruments when tattooing or piercing.
3. Unhealthy diet and metabolic disorders
These two factors go hand in hand and in most cases are mutually dependent. Because if you eat too much sugar, trans fats, saturated animal fats and simply too many calories for years, you put a strain on your liver and thus increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver. On the other hand, these nutritional errors lead to metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity , which in turn can trigger fatty liver and the associated liver cirrhosis. Diet -related steatohepatitisTo prevent this, you should lose excess weight, have a possible diabetes controlled well and, above all, avoid high-sugar and high-fat foods such as sweets, fast food, convenience products, sausages and sweet drinks.
Signs of liver cirrhosis
How do you actually recognize cirrhosis of the liver? Unfortunately, the liver suffers quietly, which is why we often only notice that something is wrong when the first – sometimes irreversible – damage has already occurred. Many patients do not have any symptoms, especially in the early stages, since the loss of liver tissue can be compensated for by the still functioning cells of the organ. The more fibrotic scar tissue that develops, the more likely it is that symptoms will appear. The following early symptoms can occur and provide a first indication of possible liver damage .
Early symptoms of liver cirrhosis
- fatigue
- Weakness and reduced resilience
- Appetitverlust
- dizziness
- weight loss
- stomach pain
- Spider-shaped blood vessels on the skin
Since the symptoms are very non-specific, liver cirrhosis is often only recognized at a later stage. If such symptoms occur more frequently, have them checked out by a doctor in order to rule out worse things and to be able to treat possible liver disease at an early stage. You can recognize liver cirrhosis in later stages by the following, more definite signs.
Symptoms of advanced liver cirrhosis
- itching
- jaundice
- Gray-sallow skin color
- Accumulation of fluid (oedema) in the abdomen
- Tendency to bleed and bruises
- Blood vessels that form in a star shape on the face and upper body
- Red palms
- Elevated blood sugar and insulin resistance
- Red, smooth and dry lips and tongue (lacquered tongue)
- Hardening and thickening of the palms of the hands
- Severe memory and concentration problems
- In women: absence of menstrual periods or menstrual disorders
- In men: hair loss on the abdomen (abdominal baldness), erectile dysfunction