Hepatology is a sub-speciality of the Digestive System that is dedicated to the study and treatment of liver diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, or liver cancer.
The ServiDigest Medical/Surgical Centre has a Digestive System Medical-Surgical Department with a Hepatology Unit that specializes in the prevention, study, and treatment of hepatic diseases.
Hepatic diseases can be acute (less than 6 months of evolution) or chronic (more than 6 months of evolution).
◦Hepatic Cirrhosis
◦Chronic Hepatitis for the Hepatitis C Virus
◦Chronic Hepatitis for the Hepatitis B Virus
◦Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
◦Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
◦Steatosis and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis
◦Alcoholic Liver Disease
◦Autoimmune Hepatitis (HAI)
◦Liver Cancer or Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
The acute diseases mainly include viral hepatitis (hepatitis A and B) and those due to drugs such as paracetamol, toxins, or a wide range of causes. In most cases they are benign, but a small percentage may evolve into something more serious.
Chronic hepatic diseases are mainly viral-based (hepatitis B and C), due to alcohol consumption, or as a result of metabolic, autoimmune or vascular problems in the biliary tract.
These diseases sometimes progress towards hepatic cirrhosis, which consists of the loss of hepatic cells with progressive fibrosis and a severe distortion of the normal hepatic structure.
The ServiDigest Medical/Surgical Centre has the most innovative technology at its disposal for the study of hepatic diseases, like FibroScan, a state-of-the-art medical device that uses the most advanced NON INVASIVE technology and carries out a reliable, precise, and reproducible evaluation of the rigidity of the hepatic tissue. The hepatic volume explored by the FibroScan Probe is at least 100 times greater than with a hepatic Biopsy.
If hepatic disease has been diagnosed, your doctor will inform you about the specific treatments available. In any case, periodic medical controls and monitoring must be performed on individuals who suffer from chronic hepatitis at any time in its evolution.
Hepatic transplants are reserved for those acute or chronic diseases, for which there is no other therapeutic alternative.
Immediately consult experts in the handling of this kind of disease when faced with any alarming symptom. There are studies that show that patients treated by hepatologists obtain better results.
Most hepatic diseases are silent and are only detected after blood work is done on the patient.
This is why it is very important to take into consideration symptoms such as tiredness, yellowing of the eyes and the skin, abdominal pain, especially in the upper right quadrant, the enlarging of the abdomen, a tendency to bleeding, formation of haematoma…
Although irreversible hepatic insufficiency can be treated with a transplant, it is better not to reach this point.
At ServiDigest Medical/Surgical Centre we insist that prevention is the best treatment, and we recommend a series of measures that can contribute to prevent the disease from appearing:
◦Avoid being overweight, adopt a healthy lifestyle with regular physical exercise, and follow a balanced diet.
◦Prevent the transmission of infectious viral diseases with basic hygienic-sanitary measures such as not drinking contaminated water, using hypodermic needles only once during the administration of injected substances, using protection during risky sexual relationships (condoms), etc.
◦Vaccination against the hepatitis A and B virus. Your doctor will inform you when these vaccines are indicated.
◦Moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages, or abstain from their consumption in cases where there is chronic hepatic damage.
◦Early detection in family members of patients affected by hereditary hepatic diseases.