Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism.
Each time your liver is injured — whether by disease, excessive alcohol consumption or another cause — it tries to repair itself. In the process, scar tissue forms. As cirrhosis progresses, more and more scar tissue forms, making it difficult for the liver to function (decompensated cirrhosis). Advanced cirrhosis is life-threatening.
The liver damage done by cirrhosis generally can't be undone. But if liver cirrhosis is diagnosed early and the cause is treated, further damage can be limited and, rarely, reversed.
Symptoms:
• Fatigue
• Easily bleeding or bruising
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Swelling in your legs, feet or ankles (edema)
• Weight loss
• Itchy skin
• Yellow discoloration in the skin and eyes (jaundice)
• Fluid accumulation in your abdomen (ascites)
• Spiderlike blood vessels on your skin
• Redness in the palms of the hands
• For women, absent or loss of periods not related to menopause
• For men, loss of sex drive, breast enlargement (gynecomastia) or testicular atrophy
• Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy)
Courtesy: Mayo Clinic
