Liver Patients may also Experience Problems With Memory

A study conducted by Loyola University Health System has pointed out that more than fifty percent of patients who have cirrhosis of the liver also experience problems with memory.

Loyola neuropsychologist Christopher Randolph, and colleagues found that 54 percent of 301 cirrhosis patients who were tested scored below the 10th percentile for their age and education on a test that measures neurocognitive abilities.

Alcohol Abstinence Key to Survive Liver Cirrhosis
Researchers have confirmed what many people already knew: abstinence is the only way to survive severe alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver.

"Neurocognitive impairment is a major issue in patients with liver disease. This can affect patients' ability to do everyday tasks such as working, driving or managing their finances," Randolph, a clinical professor in the Department of Neurology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Neurocognitive impairment in liver patients is called hepatic encephalopathy. It is believed to be caused by toxins such as ammonia that diseased livers do not clear from the body.

Randolph's study is the first to document how liver patients compare with the general population.

Japanese Researchers Succeed in Curing Liver Cirrhosis in Rats
Japanese researchers said Monday that they had succeeded in curing liver cirrhosis in rats and hope to apply the remedy to humans suffering from the chronic disease.

Liver patients from multiple centers nationwide were given a test developed by Randolph called the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).

The widely used paper-and-pencil test takes 20 to 25 minutes and measures memory, attention, language and visual-spatial functions. It includes tasks such as identifying line drawings of common objects, repeating lists of digits, copying geometrical figures and recalling a story.

Prolonged Antiviral Therapy May Be a Remedy for Liver Cirrhosis
In patients with compensated (early stage) hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis, antiviral combined therapy offers an interesting rate of response, ending in viral clearance.

In the general population, the average score on RBANS tests is 100. Among liver patients in Randolph's study who had neurocognitive impairments, the average score was 74. This is lower than the average score of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

Prevalence of neurocognitive impairment was independent of age, gender, educational level or severity of the underlying disease.

Dark Chocolate Helpful in Treating Patients With Liver Disease
Doctors could soon be prescribing a dose of dark chocolate to help patients with liver disease, according to a new Spanish research.

The findings are a subset of a larger study to determine whether an experimental compound called AST-120 benefits liver patients who have neurocognitive impairments. AST-120 absorbs ammonia and other toxins. Patients have been randomly assigned to receive AST-120 or a placebo.

The results of the study were reported during the Digestive Disease Week meeting of physicians and researchers in New Orleans.

Source-ANI
SAV