What is cirrhosis?

Liver cirrhosis is scarring of the liver. Your liver is the largest organ in the body which located in your upper abdomen. The liver carries out several essential functions, such as detoxifying harmful substances in your body, purifying your blood and manufacturing vital nutrients.

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver diseases that is characterized by abnormal structure and function of the liver. Cirrhosis is a slowly progressing disease, replacement of the healthy liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and partially blocking the flow of blood through the liver leading to loss of liver function. With mild cirrhosis, your liver can repair itself and continue to do its job. But with more advanced cirrhosis, more and more scar tissue forms in the liver, making it impossible to function adequately. The damage caused by cirrhosis is permanent and known to be irreversible with drugs and medication. Cirrhosis often progresses slowly over many years, gradually causing your liver to stop functioning. This is the result of end stage cirrhosis, it is called liver failure. Scarring of the liver impairs the liver's ability to:

• control infections
• remove bacteria and toxins from the blood
• process nutrients, hormones, and drugs
• make proteins that regulate blood clotting
• produce bile to help absorb fats—including cholesterol—and fat-soluble vitamins

Every year, around 1,000 people in the UK die from cirrhosis. Around 700 people need to have a liver transplant to survive. The number of people with cirrhosis is increasing. According to the National Institutes of Health, cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death by disease.

The causes of cirrhosis
There is a number of diseases and conditions can cause chronic liver damage that leads to cirrhosis. Most common causes of cirrhosis are alcohol abuse, hepatitis B infection, hepatitis C infection, fatty liver disease, Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but there are many other possible causes for cirrhosis, for examples, idiopathic, medications, autoimmune inflammation of the liver (the body’s immune system attacks the liver), toxic metals accumulate in the liver.

In the United States, heavy alcohol consumption and chronic hepatitis C have been the most common causes of cirrhosis. Obesity is also becoming a common cause of cirrhosis, either as the sole cause or in combination with alcohol, hepatitis C, or both. A lot of patients with liver cirrhosis have more than one causes of liver damage.