Liver cirrhosis is a progressive, very serious disease, which often provokes irreversible modifications of both the entire organ and its functions. Liver tissue is constantly and irreversibly replaced by fibrous blisters, which subsequently form scars. It is impossible to cure the disease.
However, it is timely diagnosis and a professional approach that will help not only improve the quality of life, but also significantly prolong it. How many people live with liver cirrhosis at different stages of its development, and what therapeutic measures help stop the process of deformation of the organ?
Causes and symptoms
What is it connected with?
Statistics indicate that liver cirrhosis is in 6th place among liver pathologies. Every year more than 40 million people die from the disease.
The disease is most common among men who are 35-60 years old, and alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver is most often diagnosed, associated with the regular influence of toxic substances on the organ. Alcoholics and patients dependent on narcotic substances are more likely than others to die from the disease. Pathology can develop under the influence of the following reasons:
- hepatitis of various types;
- prolonged use of alcoholic beverages - more than 10 years;
- problems with the immune system;
- abnormalities in the biliary tract, including the formation of stones and sclerosing cholangitis of the primary type;
- symptoms of portal hypertension;
- stagnant processes in the veins of the internal organ;
- hereditary pathologies;
- influence on the body of toxins and chemicals, as a result of which toxic cirrhosis progresses;
- uncontrolled drug therapy;
- infectious foci;
- disordered diet with frequent malnutrition.
Symptoms
Liver deviation develops slowly, which is why the clinical picture may not appear for a long time. The initial stages of cirrhosis can be noticed by frequent attacks of nausea, which lead to vomiting. As the disease progresses, the patient complains of problematic appetite and pain in the abdominal area. The most acutely manifested subcompensated period of the disease is characterized by the following symptoms:
Frequent attacks of bitterness in the mouth are a reason to get examined.
weight loss;- bitter feeling in the mouth;
- discomfort and pain in the area of the right hypochondrium;
- bloated abdomen, which is associated with the development of dropsy;
- disrupted menstrual cycle in women;
- constant fatigue;
- depressed state;
- change in skin color towards yellowing;
- itching and burning on the epidermis;
- the appearance of spider veins;
- darkening of urine;
- fever and fever;
- aches and pain in joints and bones.
Life expectancy depending on the gender and age of the patient
When such a disorder occurs in old age, the prognosis is most often unfavorable. With age, the body's defenses weaken and, in addition, there are other pathologies. However, it is worth noting that if cirrhosis is detected at a young age, the prognosis may also be unfavorable. Especially if this disease develops against the background of viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse, or drug use.
Cirrhosis is more severe in women and deaths are more common than in men. This is due to the fact that the cells of the female body are more sensitive to ethanol.
Stages of severity
The sooner pathological manifestations are identified and treatment is started, the longer you can live with cirrhosis. At the stage of decompensation, hepatic coma often occurs, as a result of which doctors observe complete dysfunction of the organ. If the liver fails, the patient dies. The degrees of pathology progression and their features are presented in the table.
| Stage | a brief description of | How many years left to live? |
| Compensation | Healthy hepatocytes perform the function of damaged liver cells | In most cases, patients live over 7 |
| Compensated cirrhosis is not accompanied by pronounced symptoms | ||
| Subcompensation | The appearance of the first symptoms | With the right lifestyle, you can live about 5 |
| Death and depletion of functional cells | ||
| Internal organ dysfunction | ||
| Decompensation | Decompensated cirrhosis is characterized by the proliferation of connective tissue | No more than 3 |
| Liver failure progresses | ||
| Terminal | The last stage of liver cirrhosis leads to dropsy | Less than 12 months |
| Pre-coma or coma state | ||
| Rapid tissue decomposition |
About the disease
Liver cirrhosis is a chronic pathology characterized by a tendency to active progression, in which liver cells mutate into scar tissue. The disease is characterized by an aggressive course and a high degree of organ damage.
This anomaly is the final stage of the course of liver diagnoses. At the same time, cirrhosis of the organ may well act as an independent disease, resulting from a spontaneous, internal attack of the body’s immune system on the bile ducts.
It is a deadly diagnosis, since the functionality of the liver cannot be compensated by any organ of the body. At the same time, nature provides it this way, due to the great importance of liver functionality for the body, its tissues have a unique ability to self-heal through natural regeneration at the cellular level.
This feature makes it possible to grow full-fledged healthy cells from a minimal fragment of healthy tissue over a certain period of time, capable of reviving the vital functions of the organ.
The disease significantly complicates the patient’s lifestyle, creating serious restrictions in diet, everyday life and usual routine.
Prognosis during treatment
If there are no complications, you can live about 20 years.
If the diagnosis was established in the early stages, and the patient did not develop dropsy due to cirrhosis of the liver, as well as other complications, then you can live for about 20 years. An important condition is regular therapeutic activities and adherence to the correct lifestyle. If you are ill, it is strictly forbidden to self-medicate and take medications at your own discretion, since such actions can hasten the death of the patient. Patients are prescribed a special diet that reduces the load on the diseased liver. A mandatory condition for treatment is complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Taking medications aimed at regenerating affected cells helps improve the prognosis and prolong life. It is extremely important to treat hepatitis and other associated liver diseases. The following folk remedies that have a choleretic effect are recommended:
- flax oil;
- milk thistle
If cirrhosis of the liver is accompanied by an infectious focus, then a course of antibacterial therapy is required, which is prescribed by a doctor. Do not expose your body to poisons, chemicals, or toxins. During treatment, try to avoid lifting heavy things and inhaling strong aromas. A person with such a diagnosis can live longer if he follows all the instructions and monitors his psycho-emotional state.
How long do people with liver cirrhosis live when ascites develops?
Ascites is a complication of cirrhosis, which is the result of portal hypertension. A distinction is made between tense and non-tense ascites. Refractory ascites is also distinguished. Life expectancy on average varies from three years and does not exceed five years.
Unstressed ascites has a better chance of being corrected with medication, so people live longer with this option.
With refractory and tense ascites, the effect of drug therapy is low. They are resistant to diuretic drug therapy.
Laparocentesis is recognized as an effective therapy option, which is associated with the appearance and progression of complications, primarily infectious, which limits rehabilitation opportunities and shortens life expectancy.
Lifespan
The duration is influenced by various factors that have a positive or negative effect on the liver damaged by cirrhosis. The survival prognosis worsens with the development of such complications:
- accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity;
- signs of encephalopathy;
- portal hypertension;
- liver failure.
With complicated cirrhosis, the risk of internal bleeding increases, which can cause death. Patients often live 3 years or less with complications. With ascites, such a life expectancy is observed in a quarter of patients. Patients with liver encephalopathy do not survive more than 12 months. An important indicator is the type of cirrhosis. Thus, the alcoholic and biliary types have more favorable survival prognoses. The most severe form is viral or a combination of several types of cirrhosis. In the latter case, even timely therapy does not give a positive result, and the patient quickly dies unless emergency organ transplantation is performed.
Signs
In the fourth stage of the disease, healthy liver cells do not replenish dead tissue. The organ becomes denser, smaller in size, and changes color, even orange. The patient's condition is rapidly deteriorating.
The final stage of painful proliferation of dense connective tissue is characterized by the following manifestations:
- the problematic process of eating;
- severe pain in the liver;
- accumulation of gases in it;
- nausea, burning in the stomach;
- feeling of lack of air;
- muscle weakness.
In addition, personal changes occur: consciousness becomes confused, there is no logical thinking, speech becomes unintelligible, and flapping tremor of the hands occurs.
This disease most often occurs in men, but women also suffer from this disease. You can learn about the symptoms of liver cirrhosis in women.
Naturally, the patient also changes in appearance. His skin takes on an earthy color, swelling appears on the body, swelling of the peritoneum, on which, in addition, a thick venous network appears. So diagnosing the malaise is not difficult.
The final stage of cirrhosis of the liver, in addition to everything listed above, also differs in the following signs:
- rapid weight loss;
- severe itching, rash, telangiectasia (external manifestation of dilated skin vessels);
- yellowing of the skin;
- discoloration of stool;
- dark colored urine;
- bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus.
Liver disease, accompanied by various complications, poses a certain danger. Among them are the syndrome of high pressure in the portal vein system, dropsy, and potentially reversible neuropsychiatric disorders arising from liver failure.
What influences?
The way of life greatly influences the treatment and life expectancy of the patient.
Various factors can influence a longer lifespan with liver cirrhosis. Sometimes even predisposition to one gender or another matters in predicting the outcome. In the alcoholic form, life can be prolonged by transplanting a donor organ and completely abstaining from alcohol, even with minimal alcohol content. The following indicators influence life expectancy:
- the patient's lifestyle;
- age, since when cirrhosis is diagnosed in adolescents or young adults, the likelihood of survival is higher;
- general health of the patient;
- source of liver dysfunction;
- presence of additional deviations.
General forecast
Cirrhosis is an incurable disease. The changes occurring in the organ are irreversible. Gradually, the liver stops performing its functions, which causes complications. It is possible to increase life expectancy if the diagnosis is made in time, but this rarely happens due to the asymptomatic course of the pathology.
Attention! In the absence of treatment and non-compliance with healthy lifestyle standards, the patient reaches the terminal stage in an average of 4 years.
Speaking about how long people with liver cirrhosis live, it should be noted that at this phase, death cannot be prevented. The patient dies due to complications, failure of vital organs, or falling into a coma.
How long can you live
It is known that the survival rate depends on a wide range of factors. Unfortunately, it is impossible to accurately determine this indicator. A reliable prognosis can only be made by studying the individual clinical picture of the patient.
If the disease is detected early, the patient refuses to drink alcoholic beverages and switches to a diet - the likelihood of survival increases significantly. There are cases where, with careful therapy, the progression of the pathology was stopped, which allowed the person to lead a full life.
If the patient is an alcoholic, does not give up bad habits, or does not follow the doctor’s recommendations, the time is reduced. If untreated, the maximum survival time is a maximum of 5 years. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the patient lives 2-3 years before complications incompatible with life occur.
When cirrhosis is diagnosed, the question arises of how long one can live with such a diagnosis. A favorable prognosis is made exclusively at the initial stage. Late forms of the disease are accompanied by complications that provoke disruption of vital organs and gradually lead to death.
