Cirrhosis of the Liver: Causes, Detection and Prevention
University of Phoenix- Online Campus
Cirrhosis of the Liver is a horrible disease that takes the lives of many people every year. There are many causes, symptoms, ways to diagnose and treatments that surround this disease as well as many ways that this fatal disease can be prevented.
The liver is a key organ when it comes to making the body function properly (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003). As the second largest organ the body has, next to the skin, it serves many purposes. It produces immune agents to control infections, removes germs, bacteria and poisons from the blood, and it makes proteins that produce bile and keep the blood clotting (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003). No one can live without a functioning liver, and that is why Cirrhosis of the Liver is such a deadly disease.
Cirrhosis of the Liver causes the liver to stop functioning properly by replacing normal tissue in the liver with scar tissue (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003). This keeps the organ from working properly by blocking the blood flowing through. There are many ways that Cirrhosis of the Liver can be caused. The leading causes in The United States are alcoholism and hepatitis C, (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003). Some other ways that it can be caused are inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, Glycogen storage disease and Wilson's disease (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003).
Cirrhosis of the liver can be caused by too much metal, such as copper or iron, in the liver which can cause abnormal storage (Digestive Disorders Health Center Cirrhosis of the Liver, 2008). Wilson’s disease is related to this because it is caused by the body storing too much metal in the liver, brain or corneas. Access copper or iron in the liver can cause
References: (December 2003). National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC) Web site: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/cirrhosis/#causes (2008). Digestive Disorders Health Center Cirrhosis of the Liver. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from WebMD Web site http://citationmachine.net/index2.php?reqstyleid=2&reqsrcid=39&mode=form&more=&so urce_title=Web%20Page&source_mod=&stylename=APA (2001). Health Encyclopedia - Diseases and Conditions Liver Cirrhosis. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from USA Today Web site: http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/292/main.html (2008, April 24) Kung, Hsiang-Ching. Deaths: Final Data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports, 56 Number 10, Retrieved Jauary 8, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_10.pdf (2009). Cirrhosis of the Liver. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Henry Ford Health System Web site: http://www.henryfordhealth.org/body.cfm?id=37919#7