Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
Liver transplant a life-saver
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Q1. What are the symptoms of a liver disease? Unless liver damage is fairly severe, diseases of the liver are often silent and patients may be unaware of any problem. The patients with cirrhosis may develop weakening of tissues, particularly muscle; jaundice, itching, bleeding from gums, food pipe and accumulation of fluid in the abdomen and legs. The decreased metabolism in the liver leads to lack of confusion concentration, drowsiness, and even coma.
Q2. Why is liver transplant needed? Liver transplant is needed in case of sudden or long standing liver failure. It’s a life saving procedure in this setting. Acute liver failure happens suddenly from acute viral infection like Hepatitis A, E. Chronic liver failure, is a slower process, which progresses over years. The reasons include chronic hepatitis B & C infection and long-standing alcohol abuse. Other diseases include autoimmune hepatitis (body’s own immunity acts against the liver), biliary atresia (non development of bile ducts from birth), Hemochromatosis (excess accumulation of iron in liver), Wilson disease (excessive accumulation of copper in the liver), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH (accumulation of fat and inflammation in the liver). Other reasons include cancer of liver and bile ducts.
Q3. Typically what’s the progress of a liver disease? What stage is a transplant needed? Liver diseases progress through many stages before it DR NEERAV GOYAL
MBBS, DNB - General Surgery, DNB - Surgical Gastroenterology, MNAMS
Head & Senior Consultant Apollo Liver Transplant, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Unit, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi , mail id - neeravgoyal@ rediffmail.com)
reaches a stage of end stage known as cirrhosis. This may take several years. Once the stage of cirrhosis is reached, it is irreversible and as the cirrhosis advances one reaches the stage where liver transplant becomes imperative. Acute liver failure is a medical emergency in which transplant may be required in about 50 percent of the patients.
Q4. Can hepatitis B and C be cured? Hepatitis B and C are viral diseases, which if left untreated can cause the liver to progress towards cirrhosis over several years and also predispose towards liver cancer. Now a days immunization against Dr Neerav Goyal would be conducting OPD in Jaipur on 25th January 2017, that is today. 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
At Apollo Spectra Hospital, J-2/37, Mahavir Marg, Opp Jai Club, C-scheme, Jaipur 302001. For Registration: +91 8527516541, +91 8800592693, +91 9810031760
Dr Goyal would be conducting once a month OPD in Jaipur hepatitis B is included in the universal immunization schedule for a new born which has drastically reduced the prevalence of the disease in the population. Effective antiviral drugs are now available which can help. Q5. What is the connection between alcohol-related liver disease and liver transplantation? People who develop liver cirrhosis due to excessive alcohol may avoid liver transplant if they stop drinking alcohol and the disease stabilizes. For patients with advanced liver disease, liver transplant would be needed.
Q6. Can exercise and proper medications change the course of Fatty liver disease Fatty liver disease is characterized by progressive accumulation of fat in the liver. Proper evaluation to know the cause of the diseases, dietary councelling, regular exercise regimen, and avoidance of liver toxic medications can halt the progression of liver damage. If however this goes untreated, then it can progress to cirrhosis.