Cirrhosis is a medical term used to describe changes that occur to the liver because of long-term liver damage. In a person with cirrhosis, large areas of the liver become scarred -- usually permanently. This can make it harder for the liver to do its job.
There are many causes of cirrhosis. In the United States, chronic alcoholism and
hepatitis C are the most common cirrhosis causes. Other causes can include:
Sometimes the cause of cirrhosis remains unknown even after a thorough medical examination.
Cirrhosis Causes Explained
Hepatitis C
One possible cause of liver cirrhosis is hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a type of
viral hepatitis caused by the
hepatitis C virus (HCV). In about 85 percent of people infected with HCV, the body is not able to completely get rid of the virus, and a long-term liver infection results. This is called
chronic hepatitis C.
The effects of chronic hepatitis C will vary depending on the person. For example, some people have very bad cirrhosis and
late symptoms of hepatitis C after many years of having hepatitis C, while others have very few scars. Of the people who have the virus for 20 years, approximately 20 percent, or one out of every five patients, will have cirrhosis of the liver.
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