LIVER Disease SYMPTOMS

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health problem and a leading cause of chronic liver disease. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are more than 2.7 million people with ongoing HCV infection. HCV is the leading cause of death from liver disease in the United States. We need to have clinicians with approaches to the diagnosis, management, and prevention of HCV infection.  Medical management course for doctors is a thing that should be concerned and well updated. With good program to teach the teacher course for doctors.

The optimal methods of detecting HC V infection are to screen populations for history of risk and to test selected individuals with an identifiable risk factor. we can know all of symptoms at spr medical management course for doctors.  With careful questioning, an HCV risk factor can be identified in more than 90% of cases. The primary source of HCV transmission is HCV infected blood or blood products. In the United States, injection drug use is the chief mode of transmission, and anyone who has ever injected illicit drugs should be tested. Persons should also be tested if they received a blood or blood component transfusion or organ transplant before 1992,when sensitive tests were first used to screen donors for HCV antibodies. Since that time, HCV infection is rarely transmitted by transfusion.

Other potential sources of HCV transmission include exposure to an infected sexual partner or multiple sexual partners, frequent exposure to infected blood among health care workers, and perinatal exposure.

Persons found to be HCV-infected need to be counseled regarding prevention of spread of the virus to others.

Good clinical practice dictates that all persons identified as infected with HCV be informed that transmission to others occurs through contact with their blood and that they should there fore take precautions against the possibility of such exposure. Although this advice applies to all HCV-infected persons,it has particular importance for injection drug users who are the leading source of HCV infections.

Liver disease may not show any symptoms at first, as symptoms can be vague. This includes weakness and loss of energy.

Other symptoms include jaundice that is a disease of the gall bladder. Jaundice is one of the main symptoms of liver disease. Jaundice can turn the skin color to yellow. Another symptom is related to digestion and appetite. Poor appetite is a very common symptom. It leads to loss of weight and anemia. Along with this vomiting, nausea or diarrhea can also manifest.

Another important symptom is light colored stool. Due to the lack of bile production, the stool will appear light and can be gray colored or pale.

Distention and bloating can be considered as another symptoms to watch out for and can cause a pain during breathing.

Polyuria or excess urination and polydypsia or excess thirst are the other symptoms typical of the liver disease.

Liver cancer has symptoms that include weight loss and loss of appetite. Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, accumulation of fluid in the abdomen, enlarged liver, change of color (yellowing) of the skin and the whites of the eyes are also noticed. Bile duct obstruction has symptoms like pale stools, dark urine, abdominal pain, jaundice, vomiting, nausea and fever.

Portal hypertension that is a high blood pressure in the portal veins has no symptoms. But complications due to this disease can result in bloody vomiting and black, loose stools from varices, ascites; and signs of brain disease called encephalopathy.

Alcoholic liver disease has symptoms like loss of appetite, nausea, swollen abdomen, jaundice, abdominal pain, ascites, weight gain, mental confusion, excessive thirst, dry mouth and fatigue. Additional symptoms include vomiting blood or black, paleness, light-headedness or fainting, fluctuating mood and altered level of consciousness.

1. Chest Pain or Chest Discomfort

Few symptoms are more alarming than chest pain. In the minds of many people, chest pain equals heart pain. And while many other conditions can cause chest pain, cardiac disease is so common – and so dangerous – that the symptom of chest pain should never be dismissed out of hand as being insignificant.

“Chest pain” is an imprecise term. It is often used to describe any pain, pressure, squeezing, choking, numbness or any other discomfort in the chest, neck, or upper abdomen, and is often associated with pain in the jaw, head, or arms. It can last from less than a second to days or weeks, can occur frequently or rarely, and can occur sporadically or predictably. This description of chest pain is obviously very vague, and as you might expect, many medical conditions aside from heart disease can produce symptoms like this.

Causes of Chest Pain

When Is Chest Pain Considered an Emergency?

2. Heart Palpitations

Palpitations, an unusual awareness of the heartbeat, is an extremely common symptom. Most people who complain of palpitations describe them either as “skips” in the heartbeat (that is, a pause, often followed by a particularly strong beat,) or as periods of rapid and/or irregular heartbeats.

Most people with palpitations have some type of cardiac arrhythmia — abnormal heart rhythms. There are many types of arrhythmias, and almost all can cause palpitations, but the most common causes of palpitations are premature atrial complexes (PACs), premature ventricular complexes (PVCs), episodes of atrial fibrillation, and episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).

Unfortunately, on occasion, palpitations can signal a more dangerous heart arrhythmia, such as ventricular tachycardia.

Understanding Heart Arrhythmias

In-Depth: Palpitations

3. Lightheadedness or Dizziness

Episodes of lightheadedness or dizziness can have many causes, including anemia (low blood count) and other blood disorders, dehydration, viral illnesses, prolonged bed rest, diabetes, thyroid disease, gastrointestinal disturbances, liver disease, kidney disease, vascular disease, neurological disorders, dysautonomias, vasovagal episodes, heart failureand cardiac arrhythmias. Because so many different conditions can produce these symptoms, anybody experiencing episodes of lightheadedness or dizziness ought to have a thorough and complete examination by a physician. And since disorders of so many organ systems can cause these symptoms, a good general internist or family doctor may be the best place to start.

4. Syncope (Fainting/Loss of Consciousness)

Syncope is a sudden and temporary loss of consciousness, or fainting. It is a common symptom – most people pass out at least once in their lives – and often does not indicate a serious medical problem. However, sometimes syncope indicates a dangerous or even life-threatening condition, so when syncope occurs it is important to figure out the cause.

The causes of syncope can be grouped into four major categories: neurologic, metabolic, vasomotor and cardiac. Of these, only cardiac syncope commonly leads to sudden death.

Cardiac-Related Syncope

Non-Cardiac Causes of Syncope

Vasomotor Syncope, by far the most common cause of this symptom.

5. Fatigue, Lethargy or Daytime Sleepiness

Fatigue, lethargy or somnolence (daytime sleepiness) are very common symptoms. Fatigue or lethargy can be thought of as an inability to continue functioning at one’s normal levels. Somnolence implies, in addition, that one either craves sleep – or worse, finds oneself suddenly asleep, a condition known as narcolepsy – during the daytime.

While fatigue and lethargy can be symptoms of heart disease (particularly, of heart failure), these common and non-specific symptoms can also be due to disorders of virtually any other organ system in the body. Similar to lightheadedness and dizziness, individuals with fatigue and lethargy need a good general medical evaluation in order to begin pinning down a specific cause.

Somnolence is often caused by nocturnal sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome or insomnia. All these sleep disturbances, however, are more common in patients with heart disease.

6. Shortness of Breath

Shortness of breath is most often a symptom of cardiac or pulmonary (lung) disorders. Heart failure and coronary artery disease frequently produce shortness of breath. Patients with heart failure commonly experience shortness of breath with exertion, or when lying flat on their backs. They also can suddenly wake up at night gasping for breath, a condition known as paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Other cardiac conditions such as valvular heart disease or pericardial disease can produce this symptom, as can cardiac arrhythmias.

Numerous lung conditions can produce shortness of breath including asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, or pleural effusion (a fluid accumulation between the lung and chest wall).

If someone is suspected to have a liver disease, the doctor carefully watches the person’s symptoms and conducts a physical examination. Depending on the nature of the symptoms, the doctor may also ask the person to undergo other tests such as a CT scan, liver function test, ultrasound, or liver biopsy. Among the most common liver disease symptoms are jaundice, liver enlargement, cholestasis, liver failure, ascites, portal hypertension and liver encephalopathy.

In jaundice, the levels of bilirubin or bile pigments in the bloodstream become abnormally high leading to a yellow discoloration of the skin and eye whites. Urine often takes a dark color, and other abnormalities are found in the liver cells. In newly born children, jaundice sometimes occurs because of the breakdown of a huge number of red blood cells. Jaundice is more often than not the first sign, and sometimes the only sign, of liver disease.

Cholestasis means diminished or stopped bile flow. The flow may be blocked inside or outside the liver and the symptoms include jaundice, dark urine, pale stool, bone loss, easy bleeding, enlarged spleen or gallbladder, itching, fluid in the abdominal cavity, pain from the biliary tract or pancreas and appearance of small, spider-like blood vessels in the skin. Cholestasis may be caused by alcoholic liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatitis, bile duct problems like cancer or narrowing, pancreas cancer or inflammation etc.

When someone’s liver gets enlarged, it usually indicates liver disease, even though there are hardly any symptoms linked with a slightly enlarged liver. If one’s liver is grossly enlarged, its symptom is usually a feeling of discomfort in the abdomen or ‘feeling full.’ Portal hypertension is excessively high level of blood pressure in the portal vein, which supplies the liver with blood from the intestine. Its symptoms include a distended abdominal cavity (ascites), bleeding of the varicose veins at the lower end of the esophagus and in the stomach lining.

Ascites means accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity as a result of fluid leaks from the surface of the liver and intestine. Caused usually by liver cirrhosis (especially cirrhosis caused by alcoholism), chronic and alcoholic hepatitis, obstruction of the hepatic vein, ascites has symptoms such as a distended abdominal cavity, which causes discomfort and shortness of breath

Liver encephalopathy occurs when there is deterioration of brain function because of the build-up of toxic substances building up in the blood, which are usually removed by the liver. Liver encephalopathy’s symptoms include impaired consciousness or judgment; alterations in logical thinking, personality, and behavior; confusion; mood swing; drowsiness; sluggish speech and movement, coma, loss of consciousness etc. Liver failure is a disease that occurs when the liver is badly damaged resulting in severe deterioration of liver function. Symptoms of this liver disease include jaundice, tendency to bruise or bleed easily, impaired brain function, ascites, fatigue, poor overall health, nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness etc.

Any person experiencing one or more of the symptoms mentioned above should immediately consult his doctor as he/she is most probably suffering from a liver disease which needs immediate medical attention. Otherwise, if left untreated, it could well take a serious turn.

iver disease symptoms can be very subtle and/or very obtuse. This is a partial list. If you suspect that you may have liver disease please see a qualified health care physician.

Liver Disease Symptom 1 – Jaundice

Be it a disease of the gall bladder or liver itself, jaundice is one of the main symptoms of liver disease. If the skin becomes jaundiced, then we know that there is most likely an issue with the Liver or Gall Bladder. Jaundice can either turn the skin yellow or orange depending on the type. With this, the whites of the eyes often take on a yellow color as well. Jaundice is the result of the liver not properly breaking down old blood and transforming it into bile. When Jaundice is quick to set in and is accompanied by flu like symptoms, it is important to be seen by a medical doctor to identify if the jaundice is being caused by acute hepatitis or severe infection in the gall bladder. For more information about hepatitis symptoms, visit our hepatitis symptoms list.

According to Traditional Oriental Medicine, there are two types of Jaundice, Yin Jaundice and Yang Jaundice:

1. Yang Jaundice: Whole-Body jaundice with color that resembles a ?fresh tangerine,? slight abdominal distention, constipation, possible palpitations, urinary difficulty, thirst (with the ability to take only sips), and a yellow-greasy tongue coating. This type of jaundice in Oriental Medicine is from what is described as excess damp heat.
2. Yin Jaundice: Dull yellow or gray coloration of face, eyes, and skin, heavy sensation of the body, low or no fever, lassitude, poor appetite, nausea, chest oppression, abdominal distention, hypochondriac pain, loose stools, cold limbs, clear urine, possible edema, possible, palpitations and shortness of breath.

Liver Disease Symptom 2 – Digestion and Appetite

Poor appetite is one of the most common symptoms of liver disease. The poor appetite that occurs in liver disease eventually leads to loss of weight. Improper metabolism of fat, carbohydrates, and proteins may complicate the situation.

Anemia is a more advanced result of improper nutrition from a poor appetite, along with disease in the hepatocytes (liver cells). On top of this, vomiting, nausea, or diarrhea can also occur. Sometimes blood is present in the vomitus, especially if a gastric ulcer is present. The increased rate of ulcers comes from a complex interaction of histamine, nitrogen, bile acids, gastrin, portal hypertension, and an altered mucous membrane lining of the stomach.

Liver Disease Symptom 3 – Light Colored Stool

If the biliary duct is prevented from secreting normal bile pigments into the intestine due to either a lack of bile production or duct blockage, the stool will lack pigmentation and appear lighter in color. Irritable bowels and irregular bowel movements may also be present. If the stools become a light color, it is a clear sign of either liver disease or gall bladder disease. The natural dark color of stools comes almost exclusively from the bile. Light colored stools are a clear sign that either not enough bile is being produced or secreted, or it is not making its way to the intestines due to blockage of the bile duct from stones, scarring, or inflammation. Other descriptions of light colored stools include gray stools and pale stools.

Liver Disease Symptom 4 – Distention and Bloating

A distended abdomen under the right lower ribs may be due to ascites or hepatomegaly. If the distention is severe enough breathing might be labored from pain or the pressure on the diaphragm.

Liver Disease Symptom 5 – Polyuria and Polydypsia

Polyuria/polydypsia (PU/PD) – This is excess thirst and excess urination. This can occur in liver disease, although several other important diseases cause these symptoms as well.

Liver Disease Symptoms – An Alternative View

Other signs and symptoms that suggest Liver disharmony from an oriental medical perspective include:

1. Headaches
2. Skin problems and disorders
3. Allergies
4. Dizziness
5. Tinnitus
6. Tremors, Spasms, Ticks
7. Seizures
8. Strokes
9. Red, itchy eyes
10. Irritability, easy to anger
11. Hypochondriac pain and mid back tension
12. Tight, inflexible tendons and ligaments
13. Depression and mood swings