Liver disease: Common sign of cirrhosis in fingers

The liver is the largest organ in the body that is situated in the upper right portion of the abdomen, below the diaphragm and above your stomach. It is responsible for several bodily functions including bile production and excretion, excretion of bilirubin, cholesterol, and hormones and also helps in the activation of enzymes. Furthermore it metabolizes fats, protein and carbohydrates. A liver disease can therefore bring in a lot of complications that can hamper many or all of these functions. The worst part about it is that symptoms do not occur unless it's already very late.

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There are different types of liver disease, but most of the liver conditions progress in a similar fashion. The stages of liver disease can be divided into four stages:

Inflammation: During the early stage of liver disease, the liver gets inflamed and swollen. This happens because of the body’s natural response to injury. Sometimes, excess of toxins in the blood can also lead to liver inflammation.

Fibrosis: If left untreated, liver inflammation can lead to scarring of the organ, also called fibrosis.

Cirrhosis: Cirrhosis is an irreversible condition wherein the scarring to the liver is too severe. This is characterized by degeneration of cells, inflammation, and fibrous thickening of tissue.

Liver failure: Liver failure is the end-stage or the most severe stage of a liver disease. It is when the liver stops functioning altogether. At this stage, the liver cannot heal, be repaired on its own or with treatments and a liver transplant becomes crucial.

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Most symptoms of a liver only occur during the most severe stages which makes the condition extremely worrying and dangerous.

According to experts, one common sign that is prevalent among patients is nail abnormalities. While the definite causes of such nail changes is unknown, research from the Department of Dermatology at Sohag University claims that it may be an outcome of decreased immunity, iron deficiency, anaemia or old age.

The health body says, “It is important for the clinicians to understand and examine carefully the nails for colour, texture, thickness and curvature to reach a prompt and early diagnosis of patients with liver disease."

The Department of Dermatology at Sohag University suggests that 'finger clubbing' is a common sign of chronic liver disease, especially primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic active hepatitis.

Also known as Terry's nails, the health body describes it as something "in which the proximal two-thirds of the nail plate turns powder white with a ground-glass opacity, which may develop in patients with advanced cirrhosis."

Early findings suggest that cirrhosis-caused nail clubbing is not a result of bone disorders but a consequence of an increase in peripheral blood flow with dilation of the veins in the finger.

According to an 2010 Egyptian study, nail changes were reported in about 68 percent of patients with liver disease.

Another study found that a total of 80.5 percent of patients with liver disease showed nail changes, marking a higher prevalence than that found in earlier research.

Similarly, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences recorded nail changes in 72 percent of the samples of patients.

Cirrhosis progression can take decades and symptoms can appear in any random order. According to the UK National Health Services (NHS), some of the symptoms include:

- yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)

- vomiting blood

- itchy skin

- dark pee and tarry-looking stool

- bleeding or bruising easily

- swollen legs (oedema) or tummy (ascites) from a build-up of fluid

- loss of sex drive (libido)

While there is no cure for cirrhosis at the moment, there are ways to manage the symptoms and any complications and slow its progression, says the UK National Health Services (NHS).

According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with cirrhosis must stop drinking alcohol or smoking. The health body advises patients to have foods that are healthy, preferably foods low in sodium. Furthermore, one must avoid any type of infections or use over-the-counter medications carefully.