Myths and Facts About Liver Transplantation

 Our liver is located in the right upper area of your abdomen. It fulfills many crucial functions that comprise metabolism throughout your body, including bile production, eliminating toxins from your body, excretion of bilirubin, deterioration of essential nutrients, activation of enzymes, storage of glycogen, synthesis of blood proteins, and clotting factors. Any injury to the liver or irreversible modifications leading to liver failure, which in turn will damage the liver, and transplantation will be required.

What is liver transplantation?

A liver transplant, also called a hepatic transplant, can protect your life when your liver no longer functions. The treatment implicates surgical removal of your entire liver. It’s then restored with all, or part, of a healthy donor liver. This may come from a living or deceased donor.

What is the indication of liver transplantation?

An irreversible cause to the liver may lead to liver failure and transplantation becomes the only solution to save a life. The following are the causes of liver failure.

Causes of liver failure:

Liver failure is seen due to damage to the liver due to external factors. The causes of liver failure include

-  Hemochromatosis.

- Budd Chair syndrome

Causes of acute liver failure are:

- Wilson disease

-  Autoimmune hepatitis.

- Hepatitis B.

-  Hepatitis B and C

- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,

 - Prolong use of alcohol

Causes of chronic liver failure:

-   Cirrhosis of the liver

-  Cirrhosis is the scarring of the liver from repeated or long-lasting injuries, such as from drinking alcohol excessively over a long period or chronic hepatitis infection. As scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue, the liver loses its ability to function.

- Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency

- Fatty liver disease

- Liver cancer and adenoma

- Primary sclerosing cholangitis

- Wilson disease

- Alcoholic hepatitis

 Some indications of damage to a healthy liver include weakness, nausea, weight loss, and/ or regular vomiting. Other symptoms may also include –

- Dizziness and tiredness

- Decrease in the count

- edema

- Jaundice

- Splenomegaly

- Anorexia

These are some of the symptoms of diseases like Alcoholic Hepatitis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis C, Liver Cirrhosis, Hemochromatosis, and Non–alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases. These same may lead to failure of the liver to function properly, and hence cause a need for its replacement by transplant.

Stages of liver failure:

1)Inflammation. In the early stages, your liver will be inflamed and could be tender. Or it may not bother you at all.

2)Fibrosis: If you don’t treat the inflammation, it will cause scarring. As scar tissue amasses in your liver, it halts blood flow, which maintains the strong parts from functioning properly and earns them to operate at a pressure

3)Cirrhosis. The scar tissue takes over, and with insufficient and less healthy tissue to do its job, your liver won’t work well, or it won’t work at all.

4)  Final stage of liver failure:  Over some time, the condition worsens and symptoms develop including swollen liver, internal bleeding, loss of kidney function, fluid in your belly, and lung problems. The only solution is a liver transplant.

The following are some common myths and facts about liver transplantation:

1. MYTH – What type of liver transplantation is fruitful, from a living person or a deceased? /

FACT – There is no difference. The risk of transplantation in both are the same.

2. MYTH – Transplant is the ultimate solution

FACT – Transplantation is a speculative procedure. After transplantation, one must take good sustenance. Doctors’ advice should be strictly followed after transplantation

3. MYTH – Financial status is considered during liver transportation?

FACT – This is just a myth. Liver transportation depends on the disease and urgency of transplantation and not on financial status.

4. MYTH - Liver transplantation is just a hyped procedure to extract money?

FACT –This is not true. . If any doctor suggests a liver transplant, it is when he/ she understands that there are opportunities of protecting life by taking the risk of a transplant.

5. MYTH – The donor must be related to the patient

FACT -  It is not important for the donor and the patient to be connected by blood. More than the relationship, it is crucial to assure that the liver being transplanted is compatible with the patient body.

6. MYTH – My religion does not permit organ donation?

FACT – By implying as an organ donor, you are enrolling to save lives, which is an honorable cause, certainly. Humanity should be only religion first.

7. MYTH – Female donors cannot have children after donation?

Fact - This is not true at all. Yes, female donors do have to wait for one year after the transplantation to try for children. However, they are as capable as other normal females to have children. When trying for pregnancy, it is recommended to go with the physician’s suggestions and let him/her know about your past noble deed as a liver donor.

8. MYTH– A donor will be dependent on medications for his/her lifetime after the liver transplant

FACT -  Again, this is not true. The donor requires medications indeed, But this is provisional only until the donor’s body makes a complete recovery. After this phase, there is no need to consume  medications.

9. MYTH  – Patients and donors need to have the same blood group

FACT - The donor and the patient need to have a compatible blood type. But they need not have the same blood group. Every group has some form of compatibility with other blood groups. For example, the O blood group is considered a universal blood group. This means that O blood group people can be donors for any patient blood group.

10. MYTH – I might not get a healthy liver.

FACT – Only strong organs are used for transplantation. A screening of the donated organ is completed before the surgery and a diseased organ is never used for the procedure.

Here are some common myths and facts about liver transplantation. Saving one life is a noble deed. Be the change, be an organ donor today.

Book your appointment now at Prathima hospital. We have conducted around 1000 of liver transplant surgeries successfully.

As the best hospital in Hyderabad, Our main aim is that we speak less and let our actions do the needful. For the last 20 years, we are working hard at a competently high health care center affordable and satisfactorily for the betterment of patients of the entire nation. We keep a track of the fast-developing technologies and try to install them at our hospital for an accurate diagnosis and precise treatment. 

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