Video Vignettes: Through Their Own Eyes: Rare Autoimmune Liver Diseases

Video Vignettes: Through Their Own Eyes: Rare Autoimmune Liver Diseases By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH The liver has been called a forgiving organ because of its capacity to regenerate. However, chronic unrelenting damage over years can overwhelm its regenerative abilities, resulting in permanent scarring. Well-known risk factors-being overweight, alcohol abuse, viral infections like Hepatits-C--make cirrhosis of the liver the seventh leading cause of death in the US, affecting an estimated 1 in 400 adults. 1 Yet, a small number of cirrhosis cases are caused by three rare autoimmune diseases,  autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and [...]

Video Vignettes: Through Their Own Eyes: Hepatitis C Virus Liver Disease

Video Vignettes: Through Their Own Eyes: Hepatitis C Virus Liver Disease October is Liver Awareness Month.  Today, Inspire is sharing information about the Hepatitis C virus and its impact on the liver. Roughly 3 to 4 million people in the US have the hepatitis C virus (HCV).1  Yet progression and outcomes vary.  Of 100 people who are infected by HCV, between 15 and 25 will be cured of the disease by their own immune systems.  Unfortunately, between 75 and 85 people will develop a chronic infection.  Scar tissue in the liver, called cirrhosis or stage IV liver fibrosis [...]