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Connecting Liver Disease And Gilbert’s Disease

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 Gilberts 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.

– Wilsons disease. This condition is hereditary and copper deposits in the body cause it.

– Budd-Chiari syndrome. This is caused by the obstruction of the persons hepatic vein.

– Gilberts 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 Gilberts disease are known to share symptoms with other liver diseases. So its better to consult a professional.

What You need To Know About Gilbert’s Disease

There are quite a number in the American population that had been affected since their time of birth by this condition, Gilberts disease affects about two to five percent of the population in the United States alone. To better understand what it is and how it affects the people ridden with the condition, here are some of the frequently asked questions about Gilberts disease.

1. What is Gilberts disease? Gilberts disease is known to be one of the causes of mild jaundice once in a while. It is typically not dangerous and has no need for treatment. It is due to a condensed amount of a compounds in the liver, which processes a breakdown result of blood cells called bilirubin. Gilberts disease is a condition wherein the liver has a problem in breaking down the bilirubin completely.

2. Where did the name Gilberts disease came from? In 1901, a French gastroenterologist named Augustin Nicolas Gilbert and his co-workers described the differences in the symptoms of Gilberts disease and the other liver diseases. He also provided additional information on how to acquire it and its further transmission.

3. What is bilirubin and what happens to a person with Gilberts disease? Bilirubin is continuously made inside our bodies, it is a form of end product. It is the waste product of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a compound that is found in every persons red blood cells and it is responsible for carrying oxygen to the other cells in the body. Many of the red blood cells that we have and the hemoglobin break down each day and as a result bilirubin needs constant disposal. Bilirubin get carried to the bloodstream and into the liver where it is taken in by liver cells. The liver breaks down the bilirubin further into the gut and to bile. An enzyme or a chemical compound that can be found in liver cells called urodine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) aides the liver cells to break down the bilirubin. People with Gilberts syndrome have a reduced level of UGT and so bilirubin can build up in the bloodstream. High levels of bilirubin in the blood causes jaundice.

4. Who gets Gilberts disease? Gilberts syndrome is a very common hereditary condition that means there is no way to prevent or to treat the condition was it has been passed on to the next generation. About 1 in 20 people have this syndrome – but most will not be aware of it. It is more common in men than women. It is often first diagnosed in the late teens or early twenties.

5. What are the symptoms of Gilberts disease? More often than not, none. Unfortunately, the specific symptoms related to Gilberts disease is not as easy to spot and monitor like in other diseases. Gilberts disease can be very dormant in terms of symptoms that it can manifest in a person for several years with them knowing it.

6. How different is it from jaundice? Jaundice is caused by the excessive levels of bilirubin in the body, more specifically the blood. Because people with Gilberts disease have fluctuating levels of UGT or urodine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase, the build up and the manifestation of Jaundice cant really be used to gauge the severity of a person with Gilberts diseases condition. Aside from the discomfort and stomach pains most of the other signs of having Gilberts disease can be associated with other conditions.

What Sets Gilberts Disease Apart From Jaundice

There are a lot of diseases that can be identified with the liver and its functions, one of those diseases is called Gilberts disease. There had been reports and studies that tried to connect Jaundice and Gilberts 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 Gilberts disease. Gilberts disease can cause jaundice and fatigue and thats the most of it. Some experts are still trying to find out if there are still other effects.

What exactly can Gilberts syndrome do to the body? Gilberts 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 Gilberts disease , but no clear adverse symptoms related to Gilberts disease in adults have been found in scientific studies. This has led some to dispute whether Gilberts disease should classify as a disease.

2. Prevention. The unfortunate thing about Gilberts 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 victims 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 Gilberts disease and the least harmful effects it has on a patients body the treatment for Gilberts disease does not really exist. But when a person is afflicted by Gilberts 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 Gilberts disease.

Though it is not something that can be cured, Gilberts 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 Gilberts disease does not have adverse effects on the patients 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 patients suffering from Gilberts disease are the support and understanding that we have for them.

Understanding Gilbert’s Disease

Many of us are afraid of having any kinds of diseases. This is because of the very hectic and fast paced lifestyle that people have today. Because of the kind of lifestyle that most people have, one can easily be left behind because of a minor setback like the flu or a cold. There are a lot of viruses that can affect us in all of our surroundings. You could be sitting quietly in your garden when a mosquito suddenly bit you and because of that bite you got infected with malaria. This is just on of the hundreds of real life scenarios that have caused illness to people. But with a little carefulness and a lot of prevention, these situations can be easily avoided. But for other conditions that are hereditary like the Gilberts disease a person can only do so much.

Hereditary medical conditions can be described as a disaster waiting to happen or a bomb waiting to explode. This is because the nature of most hereditary conditions is benign and dormant. A person can go on half their life without them knowing that in a few years they could be suffering horribly. The healing process takes years and it takes a lot of patience and understanding between the families and friends.

The real key to understanding the condition is by understanding the syndrome itself and putting yourself to the pinnacle of caring for your loved one. People with Gilberts disease and other hereditary diseases rarely fully recover from their conditions and some relatives just give up on their family members. Thats the reason why people should be really up to the task of taking care of the afflicted person for almost the rest of their lives.

To better understand the effects and the Gilberts disease a person must know the kind of condition a person afflicted with the disease feels. Commonly Gilberts disease is a common disorder passed down through each generation of families that attacks the way bilirubin is processed by the liver and this offensive against the livers processing may also lead to called jaundice.

Other names that we can call it

In the field of medicine, Gildberts disease comes in many names. Some of which in include Icterus intermittens juvenilis, low-grade chronic hyperbilirubinemia, familial non-hemolytic-non-obstructive jaundice, constitutional liver dysfunctions, unconjugated benign bilirubinemia among others. Although the names of the condition vary, they are all believed to have the same effect and symptoms as Gilberts disease.

Unveiling its causes

Gilberts disease affects up to 10% of some Caucasian populations this means that for every one hundred people ten of them suffer from the disease. The causes of the condition are still a bit of a mystery, one thing that is for sure is that it is hereditary. Signs and symptoms include mild jaundice (this is the yellowing of skin and whites of eyes), and fatigue.

It is really a trying and hard syndrome to over come, some people takes years to notice that they have Gilberts disease, and when they do find out sometimes its too late to be treated. Even though Gilberts disease can change a persons way of life the understanding and the commitment of the family should also be there. For those who might be suffering from this condition, it is best to consult a licensed physician before jumping to any conclusions or before taking in any form of treatment and medication.