What is biliary cirrhosis?
Biliary cirrhosis is a disease of the bile ducts. Due to inflammation of the bile ducts be damaged and is formed scar tissue. Thereby constricting the bile ducts.
The bile ducts hear bile to drain. Due to the clogging the bile can no longer be discharged. It is therefore up in the blood. Sometimes the inflammation extends out into the rest of the liver. You will then cirrhosis.
Another name for biliary cirrhosis, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).
The main symptoms are fatigue and itching.
The cause of the disease is not known. Two things are striking:
- PCBs occurs mainly in middle-aged women.
- The disease is often associated with an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Raynaud's disease or CREST syndrome.
Primary biliary cirrhosis symptoms
It often takes a long time before giving biliary cirrhosis symptoms. Sometimes fifteen years. The disease usually begins with fatigue and itching.
How the disease is different for each person. Sometimes the symptoms remain the same for a long time, but they can also suddenly become much worse. Then someone often gets jaundice. The skin and whites of the eyes are yellowish.
Other symptoms include:
- an enlarged liver;
- small yellow spots on the skin or on the eyelids;
- drumstick fingers (wide fingertips);
- disorders of bones, nerves, and kidneys;
- a pale and greasy stools that smell bad.
Primary biliary cirrhosis treatment
Biliary cirrhosis can not be cured. But there is something to do with the complaints:
The drug ursodeoxycholic acid causes the liver to work a little better.
Your doctor can also give you medication for the itching.
You get dietary supplements containing calcium and vitamins A, D and K. Because there is less bile in the intestine, these substances are in fact less well absorbed by the body.