Hepatitis. Often caused by a virus, hepatitis is an infection of the liver in which painful swelling of the liver may be felt on the right side. It is a disease which may have a long course to recovery, with an uncertain future, but most patients eventually make a recovery. This disease has a slow onset, and is accompanied by a usual fever, a distinct loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea. Jaundice also frequently occurs with hepatitis, a disease which demands the very best of medical care.
Cirrhosis of the Liver. Although cirrhosis is about the best-known liver disease, it is still poorly understood. The liver has a roughened, hobnail appearance which was formerly thought to be the direct result of chronic alcoholism. As its cause still remains a mystery, it may exist undetected for many years.
Fig. 87. Cirrhosis of the liver creates a hob-nailed appearance and leathery texture. Sometimes connected with chronic alcoholism, the disease means eventual destruction of the liver and death.
Occasionally, swelling of the abdomen from an accumulation of watery fluids within may arouse the patient’s suspicion that something is wrong. At other times sudden vomiting of large amounts of blood from a ruptured, enlarged vein within the stomach is the first indication of disease. In the late stage of cirrhosis, blood cannot circulate easily through the liver and is forced to find and build new channels through which to flow. Large veins can then be seen on the surface of the abdomen and the skin covering the chest wall of these individuals. Cirrhosis usually is diagnosed after it has existed a long time, and is then considered incurable but the physician can usually prolong life comfortably through medication, blood transfusions, diet, and other measures.
Obscure Liver Disease. Other diseases of the liver are commonplace, but they are poorly understood and difficult to recognize even by experienced physicians. Continued study of liver function and disease is being carried on constantly in many medical research programs.
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