Tag: Hereditary Conditions

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.

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.