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        Cirrhosis is a condition in which conversion of smooth liver with normal architecture into structurally abnormal liver with nodular transformation due to extensive scarring (fibrosis).

        Cirrhosis liver is considered to be an end-stage ie it is not reversible.

        The liver, the largest organ in the body, is essential in keeping the body functioning properly. It eliminates or counterbalances poisons from the blood, produces immune agents to control infection, and removes germs and bacteria from the blood. You cannot live without a healthy liver especially when cirrhosis occurs. Curing the cirrhosis requires a liver transplant, opines Dr Tamarai Selvan, Gastroenterologist/Hepatologist, attached to BM Hospital, Chennai.

        Symptoms

        Many people with cirrhosis have no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. However, as scar tissue replaces healthy cells, liver function starts to fail and a person may experience the following symptoms like exhaustion, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, weight loss, abdominal pain, spider-like blood vessels (spider angiomas) that develop on the skin.

        Complications of cirrhosis

        Following are the common problems, or complications, caused by cirrhosis: Water accumulation in the legs (edema) and abdomen (ascites), bruising and bleeding, the palms of the hands may be reddish and blotchy with palmar erythema, jaundice, gallstones formation, toxins carried to brain leading to coma and even death, sensitivity to medication, portal hypertension and problems in other organs are other complications of the disease.

        Treatment

        Liver damage from cirrhosis cannot be reversed, but treatment can stop or delay further progression. For example, cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse is treated by abstaining from alcohol.

        Treatment for hepatitis-related cirrhosis involves medications used to treat the different types of hepatitis, such as interferon for viral hepatitis and corticosteroids for autoimmune hepatitis.

        Cirrhosis caused by Wilson's disease, in which copper builds up in organs, is treated with medication. In all cases, regardless of the cause, following a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol go a long way to help stop or delay cirrhosis.

        When complications cannot be controlled or when the liver becomes so damaged from scarring that it completely stops functioning, a liver transplant becomes inevitable. In liver transplantation surgery, a diseased liver is removed and replaced with a healthy one from an organ donor. About 80 to 90 per cent of patients survive liver transplantation. Survival rates have improved over the past several years because of drugs such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus, the doctor assures.