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Cirrhosis - Topic Overview
What is cirrhosis?
Cirrhosis (say "suh-ROH-sus")
is a very serious condition in which scarring damages the
liver. The liver is a large organ that is part of the
digestive system
. It does a wide range of complex jobs that are vital for life.
For example, the liver:
- Makes many important substances, including bile to help digest food and clotting factors to help stop bleeding.
- Controls the amounts of sugar, protein, and fat in the bloodstream.
- Stores important vitamins and minerals, including iron.
- Filters poisons from the blood.
- Breaks down (metabolizes) alcohol and many drugs.
When a person has cirrhosis, scar tissue (fibrosis) replaces healthy tissue and prevents the
liver from working as it should. For example, the liver may stop producing
enough clotting factors, which can lead to bleeding and bruising. Bile and
poisons may build up in the blood. Scarring can also cause high blood pressure
in the vein that carries blood from the intestines through the liver (portal hypertension). This can lead to severe bleeding
in the digestive tract and other serious problems.
Cirrhosis can be deadly. But early treatment can help stop damage to the liver.
What causes cirrhosis?
Cirrhosis can have many causes. Some of the main ones include:
- Long-term, heavy use of alcohol. This is the
most common cause of cirrhosis in the United States. Alcoholic cirrhosis can
develop after 10 or more years of heavy drinking (5 or more drinks a day for a
man or 3 or more drinks a day for a woman).1 See
a picture to learn
what is one drink.
- Chronic viral hepatitis. Cirrhosis develops in about 10 to 20 out of 100 people with long-term (chronic) viral hepatitis (mainly hepatitis B or C).2 Often it takes up to 20 years or longer for cirrhosis to develop from hepatitis. It may happen much sooner in people with viral hepatitis who drink a lot of alcohol.
- Autoimmune diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). In some people, the immune system attacks the liver, causing inflammation that leads to cirrhosis.
- Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH is liver inflammation caused by a buildup of fat in the liver. Although the cause is not known, NASH seems to be related to some other conditions, including obesity, high cholesterol and triglycerides, and diabetes.
- Blocked bile ducts. A disease called primary biliary cirrhosis develops when the ducts that carry bile out of the liver become inflamed and blocked. The exact cause is unknown, but it may be related to a problem with the immune system.
- Inherited diseases, such as Wilson's disease, cystic fibrosis, or hemochromatosis. Cirrhosis can also be caused by a condition called alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency, in which a protein collects in the liver and causes damage.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Cirrhosis Topics
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