Liver disease

Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. File:Ground glass hepatocytes high mag cropped 2.jpg|Ground glass hepatocytes File:Primary biliary cirrhosis intermed mag much cropping.jpg|Primary biliary cirrhosis File:Buddchiari2.PNG|Budd-chiari syndrome File:Non-alcoholic_fatty_liver_disease1.jpg| [[Micrograph]] of [[non-alcoholic fatty liver disease]] There are more than a hundred different liver diseases. Some of the most common are: Fascioliasis, a parasitic infection of liver caused by a liver fluke of the genus Fasciola, mostly Fasciola hepatica. Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, is caused by various viruses (viral hepatitis) also by some liver toxins (e.g. alcoholic hepatitis), autoimmunity (autoimmune hepatitis) or hereditary conditions. Alcoholic liver disease is a hepatic manifestation of alcohol overconsumption, including fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Analogous terms such as "drug-induced" or "toxic" liver disease are also used to refer to disorders caused by various drugs. Fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis) is a reversible condition where large vacuoles of triglyceride fat accumulate in liver cells. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a spectrum of disease associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Hereditary diseases that cause damage to the liver include hemochromatosis, involving accumulation of iron in the body, and Wilson's disease. Liver damage is also a clinical feature of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency and glycogen storage disease type II. In transthyretin-related hereditary amyloidosis, the liver produces a mutated transthyretin protein which has severe neurodegenerative or cardiopathic effects. Liver transplantation can be curative. Gilbert's syndrome, a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism found in a small percent of the population, can cause mild jaundice.