What risks does liver disease pose to the body? Seven potential health threats of liver disease

my country is a high-prevalence area for hepatitis B virus infection, and the incidence of liver cancer ranks at the top of the list of malignant tumor incidence. Therefore, hepatitis B patients should receive regular treatment and develop the habit of regular check-ups. Hepatitis B can cause chronic liver disease. If it is not treated scientifically, the chance of developing into cirrhosis and liver cancer is high. Liver disease has always been a disease that has troubled people. my country is a high-incidence area for hepatitis B virus in the world. 10% of the population are chronic surface antigen HBsAg carriers. Every year, 400,000 people die from cirrhosis after hepatitis B in China. People who are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus have a high risk of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, hepatitis B patients should receive regular treatment and develop the habit of regular check-ups.

You need to understand the "three steps" of liver disease

Hepatitis B virus is one of the viruses known to cause liver cancer. Repeated damage to liver cells by hepatitis B virus will increase the sensitivity of liver cells to carcinogenic factors. Hepatitis B virus DNA entering liver cell DNA will also promote cell cancer. In addition, hepatitis B virus parasitizes in liver cells and will also produce substances with carcinogenic effects.

Cirrhosis is the result of long-term damage to liver cells by factors such as hepatitis virus and alcohol. Under the long-term damage of these pathological factors, liver cells are repeatedly damaged, proliferated, and even atypically proliferated. After multiple causes, multiple stages of damage, and multiple gene mutations, cancer occurs. Chronic hepatitis slowly transforms into cirrhosis, and then cirrhosis gradually transforms into liver cancer. This is called the "three steps" of liver cancer. Research data show that 15% to 20% of hepatitis patients will develop cirrhosis within 5 years, and the annual incidence of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis is about 3% to 6%. Liver cancer has an insidious onset, with no symptoms or no obvious symptoms in the early stage. However, it progresses rapidly. When diagnosed, most patients have reached the local advanced stage or have distant metastasis, making treatment difficult and the prognosis very poor. Therefore, the treatment of liver cancer has become a difficult and hot topic in the medical community in recent years.

Early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of liver cancer

Early diagnosis is crucial to the treatment of liver cancer. Conventional screening methods include B-ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein (AFp). Once an abnormality is found, more accurate methods such as CT/MRI and pathological biopsy will be used to confirm the diagnosis.

With the advancement of medical imaging technology, the liver cancer lesions that can be detected are getting smaller and smaller. The latest hepatocyte-specific contrast agent, Promixin, can detect tiny lesions less than 1 cm, which greatly improves the early detection rate of liver cancer patients. At present, the main treatments for liver cancer include surgery, ablation, intervention, and systemic treatment. However, with the advancement of medicine, the concept of "comprehensive treatment" has gained more recognition. Currently, commonly used comprehensive treatment methods include non-radical surgery or interventional treatment combined with targeted drug sorafenib. Through comprehensive treatment, on the one hand, the local tumor burden is reduced, and on the other hand, the progression of the systemic disease is controlled.

What are the risks of liver disease to the body?

1. Bleeding tendency: Bleeding in liver disease is caused by decreased liver function, which reduces the synthesis of coagulation factors. It is easy to cause bleeding gums, hemorrhoids, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc. in patients with liver disease, and it is difficult to stop the bleeding.

2. Ascites: Ascites usually occurs in the late stage of liver disease or when the condition is extremely serious. For example, the presence of ascites in cirrhosis indicates that the disease has entered the late stage.

3. Systemic manifestations: Fatigue and easy decay are the most common systemic manifestations. When the bilirubin concentration in the blood increases, bilirubin is excreted from the urine, making the urine darker. It is the earliest manifestation of jaundice. When the bilirubin concentration in the blood continues to increase, it can cause jaundice in the eyes and skin. Due to the obstruction of bile acid excretion, the bile acid concentration in the blood increases, and excessive bile acid is deposited in the skin, stimulating the peripheral nerves and causing skin itching.

4. Digestive tract manifestations: In hepatitis, bile secretion decreases, affecting the digestion and absorption of food. Inflammation of the liver may also cause blood flow obstruction in the hepatic sinusoids, leading to congestion and edema in the gastrointestinal tract, affecting the digestion and absorption of food. Therefore, liver disease often presents with loss of appetite, nausea, upper abdominal discomfort, abdominal distension, etc.

5. Hepatic encephalopathy: This is a manifestation of liver disease developing to the terminal stage. The symptoms are extremely severe and it is the main cause of death from liver disease.

6. Portal hypertension: Portal hypertension refers to the decrease in pressure in the portal vein system. It often causes esophageal varices and is the main cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. Once bleeding occurs, the condition is often more severe combined with the bleeding direction. It is one of the main causes of death from liver disease (mainly cirrhosis and advanced liver cancer).

7. Discomfort in the liver area: Among all the symptoms of liver disease, discomfort and pain in the liver area are specific. When such symptoms occur, the first thing to suspect is that it is caused by liver disease, and trauma should be excluded. Discomfort in the liver area and pain in the liver area are often related to the enlarged liver squeezing the liver capsule. With the reversal of the disease, the enlarged liver is aggravated or alleviated, and the nature and degree of pain in the liver area are also different. Liver cancer usually progresses, mainly because the liver cancer tumor continues to grow and squeeze the liver capsule.

Experts suggest that the most direct and effective way to prevent hepatitis B is to get vaccinated against hepatitis B. Secondly, you should develop a good lifestyle and keep your body in good condition by quitting bad habits such as smoking and drinking. Thirdly, whether you are a hepatitis B patient or a hepatitis B virus carrier, it is necessary to have a regular checkup once or twice a year. By keeping abreast of your own liver disease, you can intervene in the disease as early as possible to prevent more serious consequences.