LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Liver: Diseases
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The principal roles of the liver include removing toxins and processing food nutrients. Infection or disease can prevent the liver from performing its vital functions. Some forms of liver disease are inherited, while others are caused by lifestyle factors. More than 26,000 people in the U.S. die each year from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.
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Ascites is fluid build-up in the abdominal cavity, caused by fluid leaks from the surface of the liver and intestine. Ascites due to liver disease usually accompanies other liver disease characteristics such as portal hypertension. Symptoms of ascites may include a distended abdominal cavity, which causes discomfort and shortness of breath. Causes of ascites may include:
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Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver. Scar tissue forms because of injury or long-term disease. Scar tissue cannot do what healthy liver tissue does - make protein, help fight infections, clean the blood, help digest food and store energy. Cirrhosis can lead to
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Diseases that cause extensive red blood cell destruction (immune mediated hemolytic anemia, for example) can overload the liver's ability to metabolize bilirubin. The liver is not diseased in this situation, it is just being overloaded with work to do. This is not to say there isn't a problem because the anemia that causes this overload is a sign of a problem somewhere in the body. It usually takes a severe anemia to cause this problem.
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In addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, diagnosis of AFLP is most accurate by liver biopsy (taking a sample of liver tissue for examination under a microscope), but this is not always possible in pregnancy. Usually, the symptoms of AFLP are often clear enough to diagnose the condition. Blood tests can rule out other conditions or diseases that have similar symptoms. Ultrasound (a diagnostic imaging technique which uses high-frequency sound waves and a computer to create images of blood vessels, tissues, and organs) or computed tomography (CT) scan (a diagnostic imaging procedure that uses a combination of x-rays and computer technology to produce cross-sectional images, often called slices, both horizontally and vertically, of the body) may ... be used for diagnosis.
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In cirrhosis of the liver, scar tissue replaces normal, healthy tissue, blocking the flow of blood through the organ and preventing it from working as it should. Cirrhosis is the twelfth leading cause of death by disease, killing about 26,000 people each year. Also, the cost of cirrhosis in terms of human suffering, hospital costs, and lost productivity is high.
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