What are the characteristics of liver disease

my country is a severely affected area of ​​liver disease, with countless hepatitis A and hepatitis B virus carriers. However, the liver is one of the most important organs in the human body. The liver has the function of storing glycogen and synthesizing secretory proteins. The gallbladder on the liver has a variety of decomposing enzymes and is one of the important parts involved in the digestive function. Liver disease is generally chronic, and its early symptoms are not very obvious, so once it is detected, it is no longer in the early stages.

(1) Loss of appetite, nausea and aversion to greasy food; these are symptoms common to most hepatitis patients, especially those with jaundice-type hepatitis, where the symptoms are more severe. The liver is the largest "chemical factory" in the body and is involved in all metabolic processes in the body. Among them, secreting bile is one of the important functions, and the bile salts in bile play an important role in the absorption and digestion of fat. After suffering from hepatitis, the hepatitis virus induces a large number of liver cells to be destroyed, and the function of bile secretion is reduced, which affects the digestion of fat, so people dislike oily food. When suffering from hepatitis, the gastrointestinal tract is congested and edematous, the peristalsis is weakened, and the gastrointestinal function is disordered, which also affects the digestion and absorption of food. In addition, the metabolic products cannot be detoxified by the liver, which stimulates the central nervous system, resulting in loss of appetite, nausea, and aversion to greasy food. Acute viral hepatitis produces symptoms such as loss of appetite.

(2) Fatigue and weakness: This is one of the early symptoms of hepatitis. Patients often cannot clearly explain when the disease began, and their symptoms vary. Those with mild symptoms are reluctant to move, while those with severe symptoms are bedridden and do not even like to wash their face or eat. Despite adequate rest, the feeling of fatigue cannot be eliminated. In severe cases, it feels as if the limbs are separated from the body. The reason is that the patient has loss of appetite and digestion and absorption disorders, resulting in insufficient energy in the human body; secondly, the virus causes liver cell damage, which reduces the liver's production and storage of glycogen; in addition, vitamin deficiency, electrolyte imbalance and liver cell damage cause a decrease in blood cholinesterase, affecting the normal function of nerves and muscles, resulting in indescribable general fatigue.

(3) Yellowing of the sclera or skin, or the appearance of the "three yellow" symptoms; patients with icteric hepatitis all have symptoms of yellow urine. Initially the urine is light yellow in color, which gradually darkens day by day, becoming as thick as tea or soybean oil; then the skin and sclera turn yellow. Under normal circumstances, the lifespan of red blood cells in the human body is 120 days. Damaged red blood cells will release hemoglobin, which, after a series of decomposition and metabolism, turns into a yellow substance called bilirubin. Because the hepatitis virus causes liver cell damage, it affects the metabolism of bilirubin, causing more bilirubin to enter the blood and be excreted through urine than usual, so the urine color becomes darker. The yellower the urine is, the more severe the damage to the liver cells is. As the condition improves, the urine color will gradually return to normal. (4) Fever: Fever is common in the early stages of acute icteric hepatitis, usually between 37.5 and 38.5 degrees Celsius. High fever is rare and usually lasts for 3 to 5 days. The fever of patients without icteric hepatitis is much lower than that of patients with icteric hepatitis. Many patients have fever accompanied by general discomfort and loss of appetite, and mistakenly think they have a cold. A considerable number of patients with jaundice-type hepatitis are often treated for a cold in the hospital outpatient department and are not diagnosed until jaundice appears 3-5 days later. This is due to a lack of knowledge about the fever symptoms of hepatitis. The cause of fever may be hepatocellular necrosis, liver dysfunction, reduced detoxification and excretion function, or viremia.

(5) Dull pain and swelling in the liver area. Hepatitis patients often complain of pain in the liver area, involving the right upper abdomen or right back. The pain varies in severity, with some feeling bloating, dull pain, or stabbing pain. The pain worsens with activity and lasts for varying periods of time. Sometimes the pain is relieved when lying on the left side. The reason is that the hepatitis virus causes the liver to enlarge, which increases the tension of the liver capsule; the inflammation affects the liver ligaments and the surrounding tissues; in addition, when suffering from hepatitis, the virus often affects the gallbladder and biliary system, causing inflammation of the gallbladder and its surrounding areas. Some patients do not experience pain in the liver area when they first become ill, but once they are diagnosed with hepatitis, they often complain of discomfort and pain in the liver area. This may be related to psychological factors. For patients with persistent pain that does not subside over a long period of time, careful examination should be conducted to rule out other causes.

(6) A small number of severe liver diseases may present with spider nevi and liver palms; spider nevi are a special type of telangiectasia. It often appears on the face, neck and chest, but can also appear in other parts of the body. It appears as a small round hemangioma with a central diameter of less than 2 mm, with many capillaries extending outward and branches, looking like a red spider lying on the skin. If you press the center with the tip of a pencil, the spider nevus will disappear, because the blood flow of the spider nevus is from the center point to the surrounding capillary branches. If the center is compressed, the blood flow is blocked and the spider nevus disappears due to ischemia. Palmar erythema refers to the appearance of patchy congestion, or red spots and plaques on the skin at the thenar and hypothenar eminences at the base of the thumb and little finger, which turn pale when pressure is applied. This type of palm that is different from normal people is called liver palm. Most patients with cirrhosis are prone to liver palms. The main external manifestations of liver palms are: pink spots and plaques on the palms of both hands, the thenar and hypothenar eminences and fingertips, the color of cinnabar, which turn pale when pressure is applied and turn red again after the pressure is released. The color of the palms is normal. If you observe carefully, you can see a large number of expanded and connected punctate and sheet-like small arteries, which in some cases are not only found on the palms, but also on the soles of the feet. Liver palms are one of the important signs of chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis