HEPATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY

HEPATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY

Is a condition one gets when the liver is not working
like it should be.

The liver has many functions for the human body, we
can not survive without it, it breaks food down and
gets nutrients into our blood stream, it filters and
cleans our blood and removes all the toxins.

In cases where the liver is not working well at all HE
is caused. This is when the liver can not remove the toxins
from the blood stream and ends up sending them to the brain.
In short your brain gets poisoned.

This is a very serious side effect of liver failure. It can
cause a wide variety of symptoms from forgetfulness to disorientation,
up to liver induced coma and death.

One of the main causes of Liver disease is over drinking, So those of
you that are young and think you can drink forever without worry.
Think again, it can and most the time will catch up with you.
Another common cause is Hepatitis C, this is a disease which has no
symptoms shows no outward signs that a person has it and is only transferd
via blood, open wound, IV, ETC. Hep C is a quiet disease that destroys
the liver. Often times one never knows they have it.
a estimated 3.2 million people right now have it and many dont even know
it. it can go for years and years and the person will not know they
are infected. Many die with it and live a long life and have no clue
they were infected.

There are other causes of liver failure, but most if not all of them have
the same results.

Once a liver is damaged to a point, it can not regenerate, and slowly
dies off, this is where a transplant is in order. While there are many
transplants every year for liver in the U.S. Every day 18 people die
while waiting for a transplant. It takes on average 3 years from diagnosis
to transplant. (average 12-18 months once you make it to the list.)

In this time is when HE effects the person.
The effects from HE do not always go away if the patient is lucky enough
to get a transplant either. Many battle every day with the lingering
effects.
Below is a documentary which i hope everyone will watch, it will show
you first hand through the lives of 4 people how HE effects the patient
as well as the family.
I personally know one of the families in the documentary, i introduced
them to the liver support group i am a member of.

I have to say, personally out of all of the things that go a long with
liver failure, HE is one that scares me the most. Bad enough sadly i
have not seen the video yet. I watched the trailer and that was hard
enough to watch. I am trying to build up the courage to watch
the whole show. It's a little different when it effects you personally.

So, do your self a favor, watch the documentary, and if you notice these
symptoms in a family member, do a little research, and talk to the doctor
and have a blood test done. Trust me, it is much better to find out
before it gets to bad rather than to hear your doctor tell you
"well you're not dead yet".

Click on the video once the page loads
hesback.com
He's Back
i would imbed it, but im not quite sure how.

I managed to watch it all. I figured since i was
putting it out for ATS, i should own up and make
it through...

i'll check back in a bit, that was to real for me.

I only got half way through this video. I have never heard of HE and someone very close to me died of liver failure. I could swear now, after seeing this, that my loved one had HE. My loved one was Dx'ed with dementia. I had never even heard the phrase HE and I was their caretaker!!!

Is this common for HE to go undiagnosed??? Even with liver issues?

Wow. Just wow.

I'll watch the rest later when I can.

Good thread. Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by nerdyclutzyblonde


Hi nerdyclutzyblonde, it use to be very common for it go undiagnosed, until recently
it was a very misunderstood side effect.

I am sure it was HE that the one close to you had. Glad it was
informative for you. HE is not talked about by many doctors,
and a lot of paitents know nothing about it, which is why this
film was made to let others know its out there.

Sorry for your loss. never a good way to go, as i am finding out
the hard way.

P.S. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, had to lay down
for a bit, it was getting the best of me this morning.