DEAR DR. DONOHUE: For more than two months, I have been retaining fluid in my abdomen. After many tests, I was diagnosed with nonalcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. My condition is static. I have not gotten worse, nor have I gotten better. I am currently residing in a nursing home because of this condition.

What causes this to happen? Can anything be done for me? – L.G.

ANSWER: Fluid buildup in the abdomen is ascites (ah-SITE-ease), a common consequence of liver cirrhosis. Alcohol is only one cause of it. With nonalcoholic cirrhosis, fat infiltrates the liver and inflames it. The inflammation leads to scar formation and eventual cirrhosis. What causes this is a puzzle.

Blood cannot get back to the heart through a scarred liver. Fluid leaks out of the blood, and the abdomen fills with it. Furthermore, people with cirrhosis retain salt and water, which add to the fluid overload, and the liver is unable to degrade hormones that influence fluid retention.

You have to be most careful about your use of salt, even more careful than do those with high blood pressure.

Water pills can help rid you of some fluid. The ones that work best for abdominal fluid belong to a class of diuretics that include spironolactone.

Some doctors give patients with ascites beta-blocker drugs to enhance the return of blood through the scarred liver.

In some instances, the fluid is drained from the abdomen with a needle and syringe. The process is not painful. It provides instantaneous relief, but the fluid almost always returns.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My brother-in-law was recently diagnosed with Lewy-body dementia. We understand that it is sometimes mistaken as Parkinson’s disease. Would you please enlighten me on it? – M.S.

ANSWER: All dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease, are a decline in mental functioning and memory. Lewy-body dementia shares some of the signs of Parkinson’s disease and some of those of Alzheimer’s disease. It was described only in the mid-1980s, so it’s a relative newcomer to the catalog of illnesses.

Some of the signs of Parkinson’s disease that Lewy-body patients can have include muscle rigidity, walking in very tiny steps and a blank stare. They fall frequently, even more than Parkinson’s patients. Tremor, however, is not a common sign.

The Alzheimer features of the illness include an inability to pay attention to what’s going on. They appear lost. Memory suffers. However, Lewy-body patients can have lucid intervals, unlike Alzheimer’s patients. They often suffer from hallucinations, seeing objects and people that are not present.

There are no special medicines for Lewy-body dementia. Sometimes Parkinson’s drugs are given, but they are not as effective in this illness as they are in Parkinson’s disease. And sometimes Exelon, an Alzheimer’s drug, is prescribed.

Lewy bodies are little blobs found within brain nerve cells. A definite diagnosis, therefore, can be made only with autopsy evidence, but the clinical picture provides pretty solid proof.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you please discuss the sclerotic diseases – arteriosclerosis, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? – M.C.

ANSWER: The definition of “sclerosis” is “hard.” Other than tissues becoming hard, these illnesses have nothing in common.

Arteriosclerosis – artery-hardening – comes about from cholesterol, fats, protein and calcium seeping into the walls of arteries.

Multiple sclerosis is a hardening of nerve-lining material. It is replaced by scar tissue, and it short-circuits nerve transmission to muscles.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – Lou Gehrig’s disease – comes about from the death of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Those nerves are replaced by hard scars.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.