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Cirrhosis
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Cirrhosis is the seventh leading cause of disease-related death in the United States. It is the third most common cause of death in adults between the ages of 45 and 65. It is twice as common in men as in women. The disease occurs in more than half of all malnourished chronic alcoholics, and kills about 25,000 people a year. In Asia and Africa... most deaths from cirrhosis are due to chronic hepatitis B.
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Cirrhosis is the eleventh leading cause of death by disease in the United States. Almost one-half of these are alcohol related. About 25,000 people die from cirrhosis each year. There ... is a great toll in terms of human suffering, hospital costs, and the loss of work by people with cirrhosis.
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CAUSES— Cirrhosis has many causes. It is important to determine the cause of cirrhosis because the treatment and outcome of underlying conditions can vary. In most cases, the cause of cirrhosis can be identified. In about 5 percent of patients, it is not possible to identify the cause; such patients are said to have idiopathic cirrhosis.
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Cirrhosis can have many causes. Some people have cirrhosis without an obvious cause (cryptogenic cirrhosis). In the United States, the major causes of cirrhosis are drinking excessive amounts of alcohol over many years or having certain forms of viral hepatitis (mainly hepatitis B or C).
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Cirrhosis mortality in the United States increased steadily following the end of Prohibition (1933) until 1973, when the age-adjusted rate of death peaked at 15.0 per 100,000 population (Figure 2). A steady decrease ensued until 1979, when the age-adjusted mortality rate dropped to 12.1/100,000. However, in 1980, the age-adjusted rates increased slightly. These recent patterns in cirrhosis mortality parallel those of the U.S. age-adjusted death rates from all causes, which declined by approximately 6.5% from 1973 to 1979 and rose 1.7% between 1979 and 1980.
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Cirrhosis can cause extremely dry skin and intense itching. The whites of the eyes and the skin may turn yellow (jaundice), and urine may be dark yellow or brown. Stools may be black or bloody. Sometimes the patient develops persistent high blood pressure due to the scarring (portal hypertension). This type of hypertension can be life threatening. It can cause veins to enlarge in the stomach and in the tube leading from the mouth to the stomach (esophagus).
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Cirrhosis