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Hepatic Encephalopathy a Hep C and Cirrhosis Nightmare

Hepatic Encephalopathy – I am going to tell you now that I hate those 2 words. Honestly, they scare the dog water out of me. My own life before I found out that I had Hepatitis C was nothing but a Hepatic Encephalopathy nightmare. I didn’t even know why.

Those are long words, so let’s call it HE for short. You know by now that I tackle the worst topics with an attitude. This is one that is hard. We are talking about our brain – our ability to think. For now, let’s just break down the why, how, and what in the heck is Hepatic Encephalopathy.

HE is a condition of the brain. It is the result of a liver that is unable to function well enough. There are symptoms you can watch…

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Articles of Interest

Probiotics for people with hepatic encephalopathy

Whether probiotics are better than lactulose for hepatic encephalopathy is uncertain because the quality of the available evidence is very low. High-quality randomised clinical trials with standardised outcome collection and data reporting are needed to further clarify the true efficacy of probiotics.

Hepatic Encephalopathy and long-term care: My experience

At the age of 61, my mom suffered a major hemorrhage due to a complication of her cirrhosis. In order to save my mom's life, we decided as a family to have a TIPS procedure performed, which redirected her blood to bypass her liver and flow through her body almost totally unfiltered. While it saved her life, the procedure left my mom with the debilitating brain disorder known as hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

Hepatic Encephalopathy: When Liver Disease Hijacks the Brain

HE is a horrific complication of liver disease. Not only does it affect patients, it can be devastating for those caring for a loved one with HE. It is like watching your loved one become someone else, someone that you don’t know. This pain is captured in the movie He’s Back: Wrestling the Monster

The Connection Between Brain Fog and Liver Health

Despite being frequently dismissed as a vague, unimportant complaint, brain fog is one of the more common symptoms of chronic liver disease. This is likely due to liver disease’s tendency to impair energy production and blood detoxification.

What Caused This College Student’s Stomach Pain and Vomiting?

Hyperammonemia, the medical word for high levels of ammonia, is usually caused by a liver so damaged by alcohol or disease that it can’t perform even its most basic jobs — including the breakdown of proteins. Doctors routinely test ammonia levels in patients who have liver failure, often from cirrhosis or hepatitis. But patients with OTC deficiency usually don’t have a bad liver; theirs simply fails to do this one job.

Wrestling the Monster: Living With Hepatic Encephalopathy

Watch the Wrestling the Monster: Living With Hepatic Encephalopathy 30-minute documentary that tells the stories of 4 patients and families struggling with the effects of hepatic encephalopathy.

Resources

Understanding HE

Hepatic encephalopathy is a complex disease. The first step in managing HE is to get informed.

The Hepatic Encephalopathy (H.E) Support Group

This group is filled with good people who lift each other up with kind comments and feedback. That is not easy to do because most of us with H.E. are not able to see out of the fog some days.

Xifaxan

Reduce the risk of another overt HE episode or HE-related hospitalization with XIFAXAN

NORD

Hepatic encephalopathy encompasses a spectrum or continuum of disease and, consequently, the symptoms and severity of the disorder can vary widely from one person to another. The severity of hepatic encephalopathy can range from mild, barely discernable symptoms to serious, life-threatening complications.

Patient

Hepatic encephalopathy is defined as a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities in patients with liver failure, after exclusion of other known brain disease. Hepatic encephalopathy can be subdivided into covert hepatic encephalopathy and overt hepatic encephalopathy.

StatPearls

Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) is a reversible syndrome observed in patients with advanced liver dysfunction. The syndrome is characterized by a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities resulting from the accumulation of neurotoxic substances in the bloodstream (and ultimately in the brain). Symptoms typically include confusion, personality changes, disorientation, and a depressed level of consciousness. T