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02
Sep
2010

Different Type Of Liver Diseases

by admin

The human liver is one of the most important organs of the body. It is responsible for cleaning our internal organs of the entire gunk and bile that is deposited by a person on a regular basis. But conditions like Gilbert’s disease and other forms of liver disease makes our livers weak and prone to breaking down.

To understand better how the liver is affected by different kinds of diseases and the impact of these conditions to our body. Liver disease is a general term used in describing any kind of sickness affecting the liver. Many of theses conditions are accompanied by jaundice caused by the heightened levels of bilirubin in the system. The bilirubin is the product of the breakup of the hemoglobin of dead red blood cells; usually, the liver takes away bilirubin from the blood and excretes it through bile.

The following are some of the known conditions that are considered as liver diseases:

- Hepatitis. This is the inflammation of the liver. This caused mainly by different kinds of viruses, there are also times that it is caused by some poisons, even hereditary conditions.

- Cirrhosis. This is the formation of fibrous tissue in the liver, the fibrous tissue takes the place of dead liver cells.

- Haemochromatosis. This is a hereditary disease caused by too much iron in the body causing liver damage.

- Cancer of the liver. This is usually coming from other parts of the body that is also affected by cancer. Usually, when cancer cells metastasis, it reaches the liver and it starts spreading from there.

- Wilson’s disease. This condition is hereditary and copper deposits in the body cause it.

- Budd-Chiari syndrome. This is caused by the obstruction of the person’s hepatic vein.

- Gilbert’s syndrome. This is a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism, found in about 5 percent of the population.

- Glycogen storage disease type II. Here, the build-up of glycogen causes progressive tissue weakness (myopathy) throughout the body and affects various body tissues, particularly in the heart, skeletal muscles, liver and nervous system.

There are also many pediatric liver diseases, including biliary atresia, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, alagille syndrome, and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, to name but a few.

A number of liver function tests are available to test the proper function of the liver. These test for the presence of enzymes in blood that are normally most abundant in liver tissue, metabolites or products.

Symptoms of a diseased liver

There are a few external signs that we could include to determine a diseased liver, some of those external signs are a coated tongue, bad breath, skin rashes, itchy skin, excessive sweating, offensive body odor, dark circles under the eyes, red swollen and itchy eyes, acne rosacea, brownish spots and blemishes on the skin, flushed facial appearance or excessive facial blood vessels.

There are other symptoms to look out for and they include jaundice, dark urine, pale stool, bone loss, easy bleeding, itching, small, spider-like blood vessels visible in the skin, enlarged spleen, fluid in the abdominal cavity, chills, pain from the biliary tract or pancrea, and an enlarged gallbladder.

The improper digestion and absorption of fats may lead to symptoms that include indigestion, reflux, hemorrhoids, gall stones, intolerance to fatty foods, intolerance to alcohol, nausea and vomiting attacks, abdominal bloating, and constipation. Unfortunately, some liver diseases like Gilbert’s disease are known to share symptoms with other liver diseases. So it’s better to consult a professional.

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30
Aug
2010

Finding A Cure For Gilbert’s Disease

by admin

Are you one of those people who are affected by the scourge of Gilbert’s disease? Do you feel that you are helpless against the pain and discomfort that it brings? If you do, here are the top three sets of questions that you might want to ask and be answered. Through these, you can get direct answers to questions that hound your mind and can even help you recover-emotionally-as well.

Question number 1: “What causes Gilbert’s disease? Do a viral infection or bacteria cause this condition or can this be passed on in some other way? Is Gilbert’s disease a chronic disease?”

Answer: the abnormal number of the bilirubin in the blood causes Gilbert’s disease, it is not caused by any viral or bacterial infection. It can be passed on through the blood. Gilbert’s disease is known to be hereditary and it remains dormant inside the body for a long time.

Question number 2: “How can you find out if you already have Gilbert’s disease? Are the symptoms of Gilbert’s disease can be associated with jaundice and other liver diseases is this true? How does one find out if his or her condition is Gilbert’s disease? Are there any specific symptoms?”

Answer: You need to be aware of the differences between the symptoms and the signs that are associated with Gilbert’s disease and other liver diseases. Even though, there similarities the differences are also there. Unfortunately, Gilbert’s disease sharing the same symptoms with other diseases is true but if you can look into it further you can spot the minute difference.

Question number 3: “Is there any new method to alleviate, or treat, the symptoms of Gilbert’s disease – yellow eyes, stomach pains and uneasiness? Is it due to the excessive amounts of bilirubin in the blood?”

Answer: You have my understanding. This inherited condition (hereditary) affects just about two to five per cent of the population. It is considered that the situation occurs as a result of troubles in metabolizing the bilirubin. There are more than a few forms of the condition that can be distinguished on biochemical testing. As an outcome, the levels rise and clinical jaundice that you graphically depict occurs.

The condition appears to be not as good as after fasting and during a mild illness. The jaundice then fades instinctively. There is no cure. You ask particularly if there is any new way to reduce the symptoms. I feel sorry that I have been unable to find out if there are any commercial or clinical treatment for Gilbert’s disease.

This condition though is a fairly common sickness mostly amongst the Caucasian population. It’s passed down all the way through families and not frequently considered being life menacing, but ought to still be diagnosed by a medical doctor. The syndrome compromises the body’s capacity to process bilirubin in the liver and causes jaundice. Bilirubin is the yellow substance found in bile. Although the main and most general symptom is jaundice, there are as well quite a lot of other symptoms that you and your physician should be on the lookout for if you think you could have the syndrome.

You have to be very vigilant when it comes to understanding Gilbert’s disease and the knowledge related to it because it changes constantly as doctors learn more about it. be aware that what can be the truth about it today can be different tomorrow.

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27
Aug
2010

How Gilbert’s Disease And Jaundice Are Connected

by admin

Unpopular diseases such as Gilbert’s disease can be alarming once you are diagnosed with it because you will never know what will happen to you. Upon hearing that you are or you might be suffering from it, it can be hard to accept it because you don’t know what to do.

To ease the burden that people with Gilbert’s disease, doctors try to explain everything about the condition in layman’s terms. And one of the easiest ways to understand it is if it is compared to more common diseases that have similarities in it like jaundice.

What Gilbert’s disease is all about

Gilbert’s disease was first described by a French gastroenterologist names Augustin Nicolas Gilbert in 1901. Gilbert’s disease is an asymptomatic (no external symptoms) condition affecting the liver. The condition affect an enzyme in the body called urodine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase or UGT (abbreviation). UGT aids the liver in breaking down bilirubin which is found also in the blood stream.

Bilirubin is the waste product of the hemoglobin in the blood. Hemoglobin is found in the red blood cells that carry oxygen to other cells in the body to complete the cycle of respiration. After the red blood cells successfully brought the oxygen to the other parts of the body, the blood produces bilirubin. The liver cells then collect all the bilirubin produced by the blood, transfer it to the liver to be broken down into the gut, and turned to bile.

This is where UGT or urodine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase comes in, it helps the liver cells process the bilirubin in to bile. Gilbert’s disease affects the production of UGT, this is because it fluctuates the production of UGT in the body. The fluctuating levels of UGT greatly affect the levels of bilirubin retained in the blood. Bilirubin is orangey- yellow in color, which in turn causes a patient to have jaundiced skin.

What is jaundice?

Jaundice is the condition of the blood that has external manifestations. The two most common manifestation of Jaundice is the yellowing of the skin and in the white of the eyes. Jaundice if one of the most common symptoms or manifestations of different liver diseases and sometimes it may be the cause of some discomfort among patients. The heightened bilirubin stores in the body and in the bloodstream causes jaundice but it usually has no serious effects and it can occur in people more than once in their entire lifetime. Mild jaundice is not always caused by diseases of the liver there are times when it may happen under conditions of over exertion, long term stress, intense fasting, and other bodily infections, but the condition is otherwise shows no external manifestations.

It happens when there is a flaw in the liver that averts from removing bilirubin from the blood, to be converted to glucuronic acid (conjugated) or excreted in bile in this case if the person has Gilbert’s disease.

Lastly, when there is obstruction of the bile ducts that reduces the stream of bile and bilirubin from the liver into the guts. The decreased conjugation, emission, or gush of bile that can result in jaundice refers to cholestasis: however, cholestasis does not always effect in jaundice.

Jaundice or cholestasis, by themselves, causes just a few problems (excluding the conditions of newborns, and jaundice in this case in newborns is different from most other types of jaundice.) Jaundice can make the skin and the whites of the eyes look sclera yellow. As well, stool can turn out to be light in color, even clay-colored because of the lack of bilirubin that usually gives stool its brown color. The urine may become dark or brownish in color. This takes place when the bilirubin that is building up in the blood starts to be excreted from the body in the urine.

Other than those scenarios there is not much to worry about if you have Gilbert’s disease, you may experience a jaundiced appearance but you can still enjoy a healthy life.

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24
Aug
2010

The Difference Between Gilbert Disease And Jaundice

by admin

There are a lot of diseases that can be identified with the liver and it’s functions, one of those diseases is called Gilbert’s disease. There had been reports and studies that tried to connect Jaundice and Gilbert’s disease with each other. Some experts would like to have a broad grasp on this issue and have yet to close their books on it and accept the fact that the two are connected.

One of the reasons why there are still experts that stand their ground when it comes to the supposed connection is because of the lack of negative effects on the body of Gilbert’s disease. Gilbert’s disease can cause jaundice and fatigue and that’s the most of it. Some experts are still trying to find out if there are still other effects.

What exactly can Gilbert’s syndrome do to the body? Gilbert’s disease produces an elevated level of unconjugated bilirubin in the bloodstream but normally has no serious or damaging consequence. Mild jaundice may appear under conditions of exertion, stress, fasting, and infections, but the condition is otherwise asymptomatic.

It has been reported that GS may contribute to an accelerated onset of neonatal jaundice. Here are some signs and symptoms as well as other means of prevention or treatment that are still debated until now:

1. Diffuse symptoms. Some people report diffuse symptoms related to Gilbert’s disease , but no clear adverse symptoms related to Gilbert’s disease in adults have been found in scientific studies. This has led some to dispute whether Gilbert’s disease should classify as a disease.

2. Prevention. The unfortunate thing about Gilbert’s disease is that there has been no known prevention method, and because there had been no known way to prevent the condition getting it is inevitable. Another reasons for inevitability on its victim’s health is the fact that it is hereditary.

3. Support groups. Many of our relatives and friends who are sick are need of people around them that can make them feel that everything is going to be all right. It is what we call a support group. A support group can have members who are also afflicted by the disease, family members, doctors and other people that can give kind words and supportive comments to people who feel like it is the end of the world for them.

4. Treatment. Because of the nature of Gilbert’s disease and the least harmful effects it has on a patient’s body the treatment for Gilbert’s disease does not really exist. But when a person is afflicted by Gilbert’s disease the treatment focuses on the underlying conditions that develop the jaundice and other treatments focus on the liver itself. More and more people also take in dietary supplements to help make their livers more stable and healthy despite the affliction of Gilbert’s disease.

Though it is not something that can be cured, Gilbert’s disease is still a serious matter that people should take into account. More and more people are suffering from it and it is causing some people great discomfort. Although Gilbert’s disease does not have adverse effects on the patient’s body there is still a little window of sadness and suffering that they go through. The best cure for this condition is not really the expensive treatments, the medications or the dietary supplements. The best help and relief that we can give to patient’s suffering from Gilbert’s disease are the support and understanding that we have for them.

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18
Aug
2010

How You Should Deal With The Peptic Ulcer Disease

by admin

Do you know what PUD is? Do you know what causes PUD? PUD is the acronym for Peptic Ulcer Disease and it strikes billions of people around the world. It is estimated that over one million Americans suffer from PUD each day. It is unknown how many more people do not realize what condition they have and believe it to be heartburn, when it is in fact an ulcer.


Most people never know they have an ulcer until something bad happens. They associate the symptoms with indigestion or, as mentioned before, heartburn. But you can help yourself by learning what some of the symptoms are so that you will know to get treatment for your ulcer as soon as possible.


There are some noticeable symptoms of ulcers. The first is abdominal pain. This is the clue that something is wrong with the body, but unfortunately many people attribute it to something else. Other symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, weight loss, abdominal bloating and vomiting of blood.


Many people go untreated for ulcers each year because the symptoms often mirror other illness or diseases. This is not something that will go away without treatment and there can be severe complications if left untreated. It is important to note the symptoms and then talk them over with your primary care physician as soon as possible.


There are treatments for Peptic Ulcer Disease but you first have to go to a doctor to have a thorough evaluation performed. Many of the treatments are dependent upon two things. The first factor is age. Many ulcers in young people can be treated with an over the counter antacid.


If you are older, then the doctor may need to prescribe stronger medication to reduce the amount of acid in your stomach. The second factor is whether or not it is an H pylori ulcer which is not uncommon even though it may also be a stomach ulcer or a duodenal ulcer. That requires antibiotics to help clear it up.


You can help your treatment for Peptic Ulcer Disease by watching what you eat, minimizing stress and by stopping any tobacco use. Your goal is to live healthier and along with medications designed to treat gastric ulcers, you can begin living again.


Do not let your ulcers hold you down from living a good life. Always follow the doctor’s advice if you want to get rid of those pesky, internal sores that are causing you so much pain and misery.

We offer a free ulcer audio gift. Learn more about peptic ulcer disease at our portal, and drop us a note at our ulcer symptoms blog.

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