The rate of fatty liver disease is growing with the rise in obesity rates in the United States. This silent disease often progresses from a small buildup of fat to a state in which the liver is hard and parts of it begin to fail. You may not feel...
There's only one sure way to determine whether you have fatty liver disease; it involves a long needle piercing your skin to remove tissue from the organ. Before you get to that point, your health care provider may suspect you have fatty liver...
Lactic acidosis is a condition of excess lactic acid in the blood. It is caused by insufficient oxygen. Lactic acid causes the blood pH to drop, meaning the blood is more acidic than normal. If the pH of your blood remains acidic, cells and...
More individuals fall victim to lung cancer every year than to any other form of the disease. Less than 50 percent of those who are diagnosed survive the first year and less than 5 percent have a five-year survival rate if their cancer has...
Liver disease is any disease or disorder that causes liver dysfunction. Medline Medical Encyclopedia states that there are many possible causes of this health problem, including autoimmune hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, drug-induced cholestasis,...
Jaundice, also known by its medical name of icterus, is a condition characterized by yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. The mucus membranes, such as those in the mouth, may also take on a yellow hue in people suffering from jaundice....
Cirrhosis of the liver occurs when scar tissue forms on the liver. As the scarring worsens, symptoms and complications of the condition manifest. According to the American Gastroenterological Association, cirrhosis of the liver is the 11th leading...
After a diagnosis of breast cancer, the cancer is staged. Staging classifies cancer according to a standardized system, using characteristics of the tumor, lymph nodes and whether any metastases have occurred. The stage of breast cancer helps...
Bumps under the arms usually are due to an enlargement of the lymph nodes that reside there. The lymph nodes are organs that trap infectious materials or cells. According to Medline Plus, bumps under the arm can be caused by any number of factors,...
Discoloration of the skin that does not blanch when touched is called purpura. This is a specific condition related to the immune system wherein red blood cells do not function in the body as they should. It is also an indication of low platelet...
Your liver is a major organ that handles over 200 bodily processes. including blood filtering, producing bile, and storing fat soluble vitamins. In an adult, the liver weighs about 3 lbs. and is located beneath your ribs, in the upper portion of...
Jaundice is a condition that causes the skin and eyes to become discolored, turning a noticeable shade of yellow. While many people correlate jaundice with newborns, it can also occur in adults. Jaundice is a result of excess bilirubin in the...
Look for a possible yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice) to determine if you have Gilbert's disease, sometimes referred to as Gilbert syndrome or GS. Gilbert's disease is a condition in which your bilirubin levels are...
Infants with biliary atresia typically appear normal at birth but begin to show symptoms of the disorder between two weeks and two months of age. The most noticeable physical sign is jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes....
According to Lawrence Friedman, M.D. and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School in "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment," 20 percent to 30 percent of Americans have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Alcoholism also causes a...
Stab wounds to the abdomen occur when a sharp object penetrates the abdominal cavity. Knife blades and projectile fragments are often associated with penetrating wounds. Because of the number of other organs within the abdominal area, the...
The liver is the largest organ in the abdominal cavity. Located predominantly in the upper right quadrant, of the abdomen, the liver performs over 400 different processes that sustain a healthy body. When exposed to disease, the liver can enlarge,...
Fatty liver, or hepatosteatosis, is a disorder in which normal liver cells are replaced with fat cells. This will have different effects on the function of the liver, depending on the disorder's severity or how many liver cells have been replaced...
Liver enzymes are special proteins that perform functions inside the cells of your liver. If your liver becomes inflamed, damaged or infected, these proteins start to leak out into the bloodstream and cause higher than normal amounts to appear in...
After a cancer diagnosis, the cancer is then staged. This involves other tests to see where the cancer has spread to and whether it's anywhere else in the body. Tools used to stage liver cancer include the X-ray, CT scan, MRI, bone scan and...
A carcinoid, also called a carcinoid tumor, is a rare, slow-growing cancer of the neuroendocrine system. This system furnishes hormones that govern organ function throughout the body. According to Macmillan Cancer Support, 85 percent of carcinoids...
The liver is the largest internal organ in the body. Its functions include processing nutrients, making blood proteins, removing drugs and toxic substances from the blood, and storing energy and vitamins. There are many disorders that affect the...
Fatty liver, or an excess of fat buildup in the liver, can cause inflammation which can result in cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is the hardening of the liver and leads to liver failure. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, fatty liver...
The hydroxy iminodiacetic acid scan, or HIDA scan, is also known as a cholescintigraphy scan. This test measures the function of your liver and gallbladder with a small amount of dye or radioactive tracer. Once the tracer has been injected, a...
Cirrhosis is a condition in which the liver deteriorates over time, causing scarring and chronic damage. The liver is a large organ that sits in the upper abdomen and helps control infections, remove toxins from the blood, make proteins for blood...
Albumin deficiency, or hypoalbuminemia, is an abnormally low level of the protein albumin in the blood. You might have it tested as part of a standard panel of liver function tests. The normal range for albumin is 3.5 to 4.5 mg/dL. If your albumin...
Physicians divide the abdomen into quadrants to evaluate symptoms such as pain. While you may be unable to pinpoint exactly which internal organs are causing you pain, you can usually distinguish among the quadrants. Pain in your upper right...
Your liver serves an important function for your body. It helps filter toxins, stores glycogen and produces bile to aid in digestion. Eating fatty foods can negatively impact your liver and possibly destroy it. The liver is so important that you...
Signs and symptoms of cirrhosis vary between the different stages and may be undetected until after the initial stage. Biological factors may play a part in inheriting cirrhosis, but that is rare. Behavioral factors play the biggest role. Knowing...
