M. Keffer human biology b354a830-e0c2-407c-91cb-bf47b7935aa2.doc
liver disease questions (reading is from Mayo Clinic
Health Book)
1. liver disease
1. what does your liver do about glucose, protein and fat in the bloodstream?
2. what is bilirubin, and what does the liver do about it?
3. what is jaundice? why does it happen?
4. list two things that the liver stores.
5. list three specific things that the liver makes
6. what other main function does the liver perform?
7. how much bile is made each day?
2. acute viral hepatitis
8. if urine becomes tea-colored, what does this mean?
9. what are the symptoms of hepatitis?
10. if you are infected with hepA, for how long will you be able to spread infection?
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M. Keffer human biology b354a830-e0c2-407c-91cb-bf47b7935aa2.doc
11. fill in the table to compare the three main forms of hepatits.
hep A hep B hep C
how is infection
spread?
severity of symptoms
does it tend to cause
chronic infection?
tend to stay in body
(carrier state)?
likelihood of liver
damage
12. why should hepatitis patients not consume alcohol?
13. the “vaccine” for hepatitis A only gives protection for a few weeks. Why such a short time? (check
back to your notes on immune system).
3. toxic hepatitis
14. what is the difference in symptoms between toxic hepatitis, and viral hepatitis?
15. why might a hepatitis patient not be able to eat protein?
16. generally, how does drug-induced hepatitis work? (read between the lines for this)
4. cirrhosis
17. what happens to liver tissue during cirrhosis?
18. as scarring increases, what happens to workload on surviving cells?
19. what is portal hypertension, and why does it happen?
20. what is an esophageal varix (plural: varices)? why do they happen? how are they related to portal
hypertension?
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M. Keffer human biology b354a830-e0c2-407c-91cb-bf47b7935aa2.doc
21. what impact might cirrhosis have on the brain?
22. what is the main cause of cirrhosis?
23. is cirrhosis an acute disease, or a chronic disease?
24. how quickly do symptoms of cirrhosis show up?
25. what is ascites?
26. how long will it take to repair the damage already done to the liver?
27. what treatments are available for cirrhosis?
5. primary biliary cirrhosis
28. what is the main difference between biliary cirrhosis and alcoholic cirrhosis?
29. what happens in primary biliary cirrhosis?
30. what is pruritus?
31. what is the difference between primary and secondary biliary cirrhosis?
6. hemochromatosis
32. in hemochromatosis, what accumulates in the liver?
33. what throwback to “the four humors theory” approach to health is actually still used, and why?
7. wilson’s disease
34. what accumulates in the body in this disease?
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M. Keffer human biology b354a830-e0c2-407c-91cb-bf47b7935aa2.doc
8. portal hypertension
35. describe two consequences of portal hypertension.
9. esophageal bleeding (esophageal varices)
36. how serious is this?
37. why does it happen?
38. is the surgery risky?
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