What is liver cirrhosis?

Liver cirrhosis is caused by prolonged damage to the liver over time. There are different factors that can damage the liver: for example, viral infections; toxic substances such as alcohol; metabolic diseases, such as diabetes; or autoimmune diseases, which cause chronic inflammation of the liver. Thus, any disease that chronically affects the liver can end up causing cirrhosis. 

Cirrhosis develops over years and depends on several factors, such as the type of trigger, the presence of more than one risk factor or the time of exposure to that factor. Not everyone with chronic liver disease develops cirrhosis; there are also individual predisposing factors involved. The progression of other liver diseases to cirrhosis occurs very slowly and asymptomatically; so affected people do not show symptoms until advanced stages of the disease. In addition, liver cirrhosis is a disease that is often aggravated by the occurrence of complications. 

Every year, 2 million people die from liver diseases worldwide, with 1 million as a consequence of liver cirrhosis; thus, it is the 11th leading cause of death worldwide. In the case of Spain, an estimated 8,000 deaths occur annually from liver cirrhosis.