Cirrhosis of the liver can develop from excess alcohol consumption, other substance-use disorders, hepatitis, organic solvent exposure, or from something as common as fatty liver disease, which the American Liver Foundation says affects 80 million to 100 million Americans.
Whatever the cause, over time cirrhosis can trigger a wide range of potentially life-altering symptoms, including easy bruising, internal bleeding, and swelling of the legs and abdomen.
It can also cause hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which leads to memory and cognition problems as a result of the buildup of toxins that the liver can no longer filter out of the bloodstream.
Unfortunately, around half of people with cirrhosis go undiagnosed, and their struggles with memory and concentration are often misattributed to Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.
A new 10-year study of almost 70,000 veterans published in the American Journal of Medicine found that up to 13% of diagnoses for dementia should be for undiagnosed cirrhosis.
The good news? If caught early, HE is reversable with medications — lactulose (a synthetic sugar) and certain antibiotics — and according to research, even with coffee.
If you’re told you may have dementia, ask for a simple Fibrosis-4 Index test to check your liver enzyme levels and your platelet count, which can signal liver disease.