DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please write about the liver. My daughter has cirrhosis. She has never drunk alcohol or done drugs. They can’t find out what caused it. Anything you can tell us would be really appreciated. – M.R.

ANSWER: The liver is the body’s largest organ, weighing in at 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg). If you hook your fingers under the ribs on the right side and take a deep breath, you can feel the liver descend as you inhale. This big organ has many big jobs. It manufactures and processes carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It stores sugar as glycogen, and it can release it into the blood when blood sugar drops. It makes cholesterol. It produces bile for the digestion of fats. It manufactures proteins that facilitate blood clotting. It cleans the blood.

Liver cirrhosis is a scarred liver, one in which liver cells have died and have been replaced with scar tissue. The liver shrinks and cannot carry out many of its functions. It was once believed that cirrhosis could not be reversed, but if it’s caught early and if its cause is eliminated, the liver can regenerate normal liver tissue.

Alcohol is only one cause of cirrhosis, although everyone thinks of alcohol when they hear “cirrhosis.” Chronic hepatitis B and C can end in cirrhosis. Autoimmune hepatitis, an attack on the liver by the body’s own immune system, often results in cirrhosis. Hemochromatosis is an inherited illness in which too much iron is stored in the liver and other organs. It too can bring on cirrhosis. There are many other causes, and your daughter’s doctors are busy trying to find what caused her cirrhosis. The investigation might require removal of a small piece of her liver for microscopic examination – a liver biopsy.

Even if the search turns up no known cause and even if the liver is on the verge of failing, liver transplantation is an option.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I was rushed to a cardiologist because an EKG was interpreted as showing a heart attack. The cardiologist said I did not have a heart attack, but I had poor circulation in my legs and could have a heart attack in the future. He sent me back to my primary-care doctor who told me that my circulation problem is age-related and that nothing can be done for it.

I am an 84-year-old man in good physical condition. I do half an hour of aerobics every day and lift weights two or three times a week. I am a vegetarian. My cholesterol is almost always under 200, and my LDL is under 100. My blood pressure is 110/65.

They tell me I have bad circulation because I have no hair on my legs. Could my hairless legs be partly due to the use of soybean products? – S.R.

ANSWER: Loss of leg hair is not exactly the most sensitive test for bad circulation. A much better way to determine leg circulation is to compare the blood pressure at the ankles with the blood pressure in the arms. If the ankle blood pressure is much lower than the arm blood pressure, that’s evidence of clogged leg arteries.

You are doing all the things you’re supposed to do to prevent artery blockages — you exercise, you eat well and your blood pressure is normal. You don’t have diabetes. You sound fit to me.

If your doctors could prove your circulation is bad, then they could consider giving you medicines to improve it, but a diagnosis of poor circulation based on the loss of leg hair doesn’t justify that. Your soybeans have nothing to do with the hair loss.

The booklet on peripheral artery disease – poor leg circulation – describes this common malady in detail. To obtain a copy, write: Dr. Donohue – No. 109, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order for $4.75 U.S./$6 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 75, and a recent chest X-ray showed atherosclerotic calcification of the aortic knob. Please shed some light on this. – V.O.

ANSWER: The aortic knob is the turn the aorta makes when it curves downward from the heart. Just about every 75-year-old’s chest X-ray will show atherosclerotic calcification there – which just means “some artery hardening.”

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My 7-year-old boy is well-adjusted in all respects. He has many friends and has no hang-ups about anything. He does have one strange habit. He arranges his toy cars, his clothes or whatever in such straight lines that it is mind-blowing.

His father is like this.

However, at age 7, it seems inappropriate. What do you think? – C.H.

ANSWER: I have a nephew who must be your boy’s identical twin. He does the same thing and with precision that defies human ability. Like your son, this is his only quirk. He behaves quite normally in all other respects.

Such a habit, if not interfering with a child’s life, doesn’t need professional help. I don’t believe you need to do a thing for your son. He’s going to turn out like his dad.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been taking my blood pressure in both arms. There can be as much as a 10-point difference between the arms. I am 74 years old. I exercise moderately every day and consider myself fairly healthy. I take no heart or blood pressure medicines.

Is there any significance to these discrepancies in arm blood pressure? – H.O.

ANSWER: A 10-point discrepancy between the pressures in both arms is considered normal.

A larger discrepancy might indicate an obstruction to blood flow in the arm with the lower pressure.

You should take the higher reading as your blood pressure.

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

Copy the Story Link