Then a duct between my liver and small intestine wouldn t function properly, and I came down with pancreatitis. . The mail I get still brings me to tears strangers offering support, people waiting for transplants asking for advice, people fighting the same fight. Some of us will make it, some won t. David Crosby was one of the lucky ones. Fewer than half of the 10,000 patients awaiting lifesaving liver transplants each year receive them.
Alcohol abuse is the leading cause of liver disease in the United States.
For reasons not yet known, excessive alcohol consumption causes liver tissue to toughen and thicken. The abnormal proliferation of hepatic stellate cells and deposition of proteins impair normal liver functioning. In some cases, the fibrosis proceeds to cirrhosis, in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue. Ultimately, the liver becomes incapable of performing its critical functions, including cholesterol metabolism, energy storage, blood sugar and hormone regulation, and metabolism and detoxification of medicines and poisons. M.D. Dr. Richard Rippe , Associate Professor at the Division of Digestive Diseases in the Department of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, devotes his days to illuminating the causes of these pathological liver changes and to exploring targets for potential new therapies that will someday impede or prevent liver disease.