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At the end of 2011, Dana Walker knew that something was wrong when she had always reached a small hill from the parking garage to her office. She was also exhausted unusually after saving during the Tae Kwon exercises.
“I would be completely out of breath and my mouth would be very dry, so I ran constantly to get water,” said Walker. “My neck was just dry like a bone.”
Walker thought she could have diabetes because of her constant thirst. She informed her symptoms with her basic supplier and added that her palms also itch.
Walker said her basic supplier suspected that she may have primary gallcholangitis or PBC and ordered a blood plate to check. When the committee came back with elevated liver enzymes, he referred Walker to a gastroenterologist who ordered additional tests that confirmed the diagnosis.
It would be the beginning of a long and not always easy journey to manage your condition that your doctor diagnosed between stage 2 and fibrosis in stage 3. Walker learned that early diagnosis and proper management were decisive to prevent severe liver damage that could lead to organ failure and even death.
What is PBC?
Once as primary bile cirrhosis, since the disease was often diagnosed in an advanced stage of liver disease, PBC is a rare autoimmune disease that mainly affects women over 40, but can also affect men. The researchers estimate that around 65 out of 100,000 women in the United States live with PBC, and 9 out of 10 women are among people with the disease.
Although PBC affects people from all racist backgrounds and ethnic groups, Hispanic people who live with PBC are more often than non-Hispanic white people who live with PBC, and black people have a higher probability of mortality.
PBC occurs when the cells from which the small bile ducts consist of are attacked or destroyed. When working normal, the channels remove the bile and move it into the intestine in which they can be removed. When the channels are destroyed, the bile builds up and has no one anywhere. Chronic itching, referred to as pruritus, can be the way the blockade appears in your body, but the bile building also damages the liver, which can lead to permanent scars and cirrhosis, an illness in which scars takes over your liver tissue. Fatigue is another common symptom for PBC and many other autoimmune diseases.
“The majority of PBC patients have very mild or no symptoms and is only identified by abnormal blood tests,” said Christopher Bowlus, MD, head of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology department at UC Davis Health. “The blood tests typically show increased liver enzymes.”
The tests are looking for a substance called alkaline phosphatase. People who live with PBC typically have a different blood marker, which is referred to as antimithoo -dria antibodies. Most PBC cases are diagnosed when both factors are available.
People who live with PBC should have clinical treatment. Without treatment, PBC can lead to liver damage.
“There are two aspects of the PBC quality of life in connection with the severity of the symptoms and the progress of liver disease, which can lead to cirrhosis and the need for a liver transplant,” said Bowlus. “You are not necessarily related. People can have serious symptoms, but slight liver diseases and vice versa. Regardless of whether symptoms are present or not, all patients should be treated to prevent the progression of liver disease. “
Steps that you can take to prioritize your well -being in life at PBC
In addition to clinical treatment, Bowlus said that minimizing alcohol consumption or avoiding all with liver diseases is important, especially if your PBC is in an advanced stage.
Maintaining a healthy diet can help treat people with PBC PBC symptoms, although the nutritional needs can differ depending on their stages of illness and the seriousness of the symptoms. If you reduce food that requires a bile in the digestive process that includes food that contains highly in saturated fats, sugar or sodium. Movement can also help reduce tiredness and strengthen the bones, which is important, since 3 from 10 people who live with PBC develop osteoporosis.
Good communication with your health service provider about how you feel and feel your symptoms is another way to improve your experience with PBC. For example, people who live with PBC sometimes do not establish the connection between their illness and chronic itching, so that they do not mention it to their health service provider, which means that they do not receive adequate care.
An increased awareness can lead to improved results
The number of known PBC cases increases because awareness of the disease, more precise diagnoses and better treatment, said Bowlus, and found that many people living with PBC are still under -treating. Health service providers (HCPS) have to be aware of the disease in order to make a correct diagnosis or to refer patients to specialists, and even providers who know about PBC I react to the medication with which HCPs normally begin.
For people who live with PBC, to whom access to specialists, including those in rural areas, or those who suffer economically, do not see HCPs, can make a manageable diagnosis in a more serious one.
Walker said that she was lucky enough to live in Baltimore, where you can visit first -class health facilities with providers who are aware of the PBC and can treat them early and treat them early. In their social media support groups, however, Walker often reads stories from women who are frustrated that their providers do not know much about the disease.
“You don’t have the feeling that you get the same concern that other people do because of your circumstances,” said Walker.
Walker said she tried to share as much information as possible to help others with PBC. She does it in honor of Shirley Bouloubassis, who made friends with Walker when she was diagnosed for the first time.
“Shirley was the first person I met PBC and she directed and checked me in my life during a scary time,” said Walker. “She called me and others her PBC sisters. She was a great advocate for promoting consciousness and for the collection of money for [research] And bring the PBC sisters together to remember that we are not alone. ”
This educational resource was created with the support of Gilead.
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