About Causes of Liver Hypertrophy
Liver Hypertrophy is not a common ailment that most people hear about. The majority of the time, unless you or someone close to you has the disease, you may not hear of it at all.
What exactly is Liver Hypertrophy? Let’s take a deeper look into what this disease actually is, what causes it, and what you can do to help prevent this disease.
Liver Hypertrophy is a condition in which the liver is greatly increased in size. Hypertrophy happens when the actual cells inside the liver increase in size.
More often than not, you will see Hypertrophy in someone who is weight lifting or body building. Increasing the cell size in muscles is an intentional quest, while liver hypertrophy is quite the opposite.
Your liver is a vital organ to your overall health. It holds the glucose in your body and releases it at the precise moment that it is needed.
Your liver also breaks down food and chemicals in your body and helps to cleanse your system.
Without cleansing your system, your liver is at a risk of becoming enlarged which can cause it to break down and stop working. If your liver goes into failure, the remaining organs will follow suit.
Poor health and lack of regular health checks can often lead to hypertrophy of the liver. It is very important to see your regular medical doctor every six months to a year to make sure that your liver is in top working condition.
There are many different ways for someone to develop liver hypertrophy, but there are five diseases that are the most common.
We will look into each of these in detail, but first, let’s talk about symptoms. There are no clear-cut symptoms for Liver Hypertrophy.
In most cases, people do not experience any symptoms at all. This is why it is so important to see your doctor every year.
They will be able to keep a check on your liver and make sure that it is working the way it is supposed to.
After years of research in patients with liver hypertrophy, doctors have comprised a list of symptoms that may indicate an enlarged liver.
If you are having any of these symptoms and you believe that they are serious, you need to contact your medical doctor immediately.
People with enlarged livers may experience fatigue, muscle aches, pain in the upper belly on the right side, poor appetite or unexplained weight loss, or a yellowing of the skin or eyes known as jaundice.
These are things you need to discuss with your doctor if you believe that they are serious. Also bring up any symptoms you may be having when you go in for your yearly check up.
Let’s dive into our top five causes of liver hypertrophy. These are the most common diseases that people experience before having an enlargement of their liver.
Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Excessive use of alcohol can cause your liver to break down and not work properly. Alcohol does not break down in your liver easily and can cause fat buildup, which can result in scarring if there is too much alcohol in your system over a long period of time.
While some fat in your liver is common, too much can be deadly to your liver. Most of the time, Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and its damages can be reversed with a simple change in lifestyle.
For example, cutting back on the alcohol or even stopping it for good can help reverse the effects that the disease causes on your liver.
However, if someone has used alcohol in excess for many years and continues to have more than the suggested amount a day based on their gender, they may not be so lucky, as it may be too mate to experience the reversal of the damaging effects.
According to the U.S. Government, men should only have two alcoholic drinks in a day, while women should have no more than one.
While most people who consume alcohol are doing it on a social basis and are not consuming alcohol on a daily basis, they still need to be careful.
Especially for those who are not in the best shape to begin with, adding alcohol to an already fatty liver can make the situation worse.
A fatty liver can cause inflammation of the liver, scarring, and in some cases cirrhosis of the liver. Someone who consumes large amounts of alcohol in general can cause all of the above by simply consuming too much alcohol.
Adding the alcohol to an already fatty liver due to poor health and diet can make the situation deadly.
If your liver is unable to filter out bad chemicals and break down others to make sure that they can be passed through your body, it will begin to shut down.
If your liver reaches the point where it has begun to break down, there is not much that you can do about it.
That is why it is very important to limit your alcohol use to the recommended amount or to cut out alcohol completely.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
This disease itself is caused simply by a bad diet and overall poor health. You are also at a higher risk for this disease if someone in your immediate family has also suffered from it.
As most people are aware, genetics play a major part in your overall health. If a parent, sibling, or grandparent has suffered from this disease, you are predisposed to having the same problems.
While it is not commonly known, if you are experiencing a rapid weight loss that is unexpected, you may have a fatty liver.
While fatty liver disease does not have a set list of symptoms that are specifically designated for it, you need to make sure that your doctor knows what type of issues you may be having.
To reduce your risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, you can begin by changing your diet and adding exercise into your daily routine.
Giving yourself the overhaul that your body needs will help to get your liver in top working order and keep it that way.
Depending on your dietary needs, your doctor may suggest a diet counselor to help you get on the right track and get you started on your weight loss journey. Making sure that you are getting enough water in your diet is also important.
Adding in water will help your liver to push out those extra fatty deposits and allow it to begin to repair itself. This will also help you if you are a diabetic, as getting rid of those extra pounds and adding in more exercise will be a great benefit to you.
Because the liver releases the sugar your body needs at the appropriate times, making sure it stays healthy can go a long way in making sure that you stay healthy as well.
To make sure that you are getting the most out of your exercise routine, you may want to consult with a personal trainer.
They will be able to help you set up a workout routine and make sure you stick with it. They will also be able to give you a workout routine that fits into your life and allows you to move at your own pace.
This is great for those of us who are not used to a daily workout. It will enable you to ease into a new routine and still be able to get a great workout in. Talk to your trainer and let them know that you are trying to get healthier.
Explain to them why you want to work out and what your goals are. This will be helpful to them when they are choosing your workout schedule.
It will also allow them to completely customize a plan for you to make sure that you do not work out harder than you need to.
This will help to keep you from getting an injury that will delay your workouts and will delay getting yourself back into a healthier lifestyle.
Viral Hepatitis
The third most common cause of liver hypertrophy is viral hepatitis. This includes the hepatitis strains A, B, and C.
Most people born today will have at least one Hepatitis A vaccine in their lifetime. This is one of the rarer forms of hepatitis, with less than 20,000 cases a year.
Hepatitis B and C are more common strains of the disease and can cause more damage to your liver than Hepatitis A can. Both Hepatitis B and C develop through contact with infected bodily fluid, like sharing a drink with someone who already has the disease.
Most commonly, the disease is found in people with multiple sexual partners. There is currently a vaccine for Hepatitis B, and with this vaccine, it is easily treatable.
However, unless you catch the signs of Hepatitis B early, a vaccine will be unsuccessful in treating the disease. There are currently more than 20,000 cases per year reported.
Hepatitis B can do as much damage to your liver as alcohol can, and the longer it goes untreated the more problems you will face.
There is currently no treatment for Hepatitis C. There are medications that can help to slow down the process, but there is no cure.
You are more likely to find Hepatitis C in baby boomers than in someone born after 1964, though people born after that year can still contract Hepatitis C.
It is very important to make sure you are not drinking after someone, whether they are family or not.
Being careful and wearing gloves around someone who has a cut is also important. Hepatitis B and C can both be transferred through contact with infected blood or sweat from another person.
It is very important to wear protection while being intimate to make sure that you are not getting or spreading Hepatitis.
Hepatitis is most commonly known as an STD, and most people do not know that it can actually do a lot of damage to your liver.
Liver Cancer
The fourth most common cause of liver hypertrophy is liver cancer. While this is rare to see, as there are less than 200,000 cases a year, it can still be one of the leading causes of liver hypertrophy.
This is a cancer that attacks the liver itself, weakening it and keeping it from doing its job. The cancer begins in the cells of the liver and makes its way throughout the entire liver if it is not caught early.
While there is no cure for this cancer, treatment may be helpful in slowing down the process. But it will not completely rid you of the cancer.
You may not even know you are at risk for or have liver cancer unless your medical doctor performs regular tests on you. In most cases of liver cancer, there are no symptoms in the early stages. That is why it is vital to keep an eye on the health of your liver.
Once you are in the later stages of liver cancer, you will begin to experience the symptoms associated with the disease.
These symptoms include belly pain around your liver, vomiting, rapid weight loss, and jaundice. It is important to listen to your doctor and take the necessary treatment options available for you.
While there are not many, and most require surgeries, you do have options when it comes to your treatment. Taking the time to make a plan with your doctor will give you the opportunity to treat the cancer as best as you can.
Liver cancer is just one of the many reasons why it is so important to make sure that you are getting regular checkups with your doctor.
Keeping an eye on your liver and making sure that it is in top working condition will allow you to catch any problems within your liver and take the steps towards any necessary action needed.
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis of the liver is quite possibly the most common cause of liver hypertrophy. It is also something you have more than likely already heard of considering there are more than 200,000 cases per year.
Cirrhosis of the liver occurs when there are significant scarring and damage to the liver. The scarring and damage can be caused by the other four causes of liver hypertrophy.
When you drink alcohol in excess, you are preventing your liver from doing its job properly, which leads to scarring.
If you continue to consume large amounts of alcohol, your liver could begin to fail, and eventually stop working altogether.
Simply by consuming more alcohol than recommended, you are putting your liver at risk of scarring and starting the early stages of cirrhosis.
If you do not lower your alcohol consumption or stop it altogether, you could do enough damage to your liver that your liver will not be able to recover.
Cirrhosis of the liver cannot be cured, but it can be treated. Like most diseases and cancers, if you catch cirrhosis in its early stages, the treatments can be more successful.
Treatments can help elongate your life and can help repair some of the damage that has been done to your liver.
If treatments are unsuccessful, the only other option is a complete liver transplant. This is another reason why it is so important to make sure that you are staying on top of your liver health.
Depending on how far you are into the cirrhosis diagnosis, you may be able to simply treat the underlying causes of the cirrhosis and still be able to live your life.
Chronic cirrhosis can last anywhere from a few months to a lifetime depending on how much scarring and damage you have to your liver.
Unlike some of the other causes of liver hypertrophy, with cirrhosis you will actually see symptoms in the early stage.
These symptoms will only increase as you progress into the later stages of cirrhosis. During the early stages of your cirrhosis, you may experience unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and vomiting.
These may seem like general and vague symptoms, but if you keep your doctor updated on exactly how you are feeling and whether or not you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you may be able to catch it early, as your doctor will more than likely want to run tests to make sure that you are keeping up with your liver health.
If you reach the later stages of cirrhosis, you will face more difficult challenges and more pronounced symptoms. You may begin to see a yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes, which is known as jaundice.
You may also notice abdominal swelling and gastrointestinal bleeding, as well as confusion or a “foggy” brain. If you know that you are at a higher risk of developing cirrhosis, it is important to keep a check on any symptoms that you may be having.
Even if you think that it is something that will go away on its own or something that is related to a stressful event in your life, you should still keep your doctor in the loop.
Confusion or “foggy” brain can be dangerous if you are in a situation where you are driving or operation machinery, or where you may be doing something out of the ordinary for you.
Make a list of any and all symptoms that you are having and make sure you give it to your doctor so they know what is going on. This will give them a better picture into what you may be suffering from.
Liver Hypertrophy Review Summary
Liver Hypertrophy can be a serious disease if it is allowed to progress to later stages. Once you have reached the later stages, there is simply no turning back.
You will be unable to repair the damage that has been done to your liver. While that may seem like a death sentence, and in some cases it is, you can help to prevent the issues that cause hypertrophy.
An increase in the size of the cells of your liver due to different diseases or poor health can do more damage than you may think.
If you do not keep a check on your liver and make sure that it is in proper working order, you are at risk for other diseases.
Keeping your weight and diet in check can help to prevent fatty deposits from forming inside your liver.
Without fatty deposit build up in your liver, your liver will be able to process and break down foods and liquids in your body and help you to stay healthier.
Arming yourself with the knowledge of how to keep your liver healthy is the best thing you can do for your liver.
Do some research into your family history and find out if anyone has suffered from liver diseases.
This will help you to prepare for a talk with your doctor. Once you know whether or not you are at a higher risk for liver diseases, get with your doctor and make a plan for how to take care of yourself and keep the diseases at bay.
For those who consume alcohol on a regular basis, you will want to talk to your medical doctor and find out what kind of steps you can take to either limit your alcohol use or remove it from your life completely.
The more alcohol you consume, the more likely you are to develop alcoholic fatty liver disease, and the only way to repair your liver from that disease is to completely quit drinking.
There are many ways that you can keep yourself healthy and keep the causes of liver hypertrophy at bay.
It is best if you keep your medical doctor in the loop at each visit. This includes letting them know what your family history is, what kind of diet and exercise routine you follow, and what symptoms you may be experiencing.
This will give them the knowledge they need to decide how to help you, and how to keep you healthy for the long term.
