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Review
. 2019 Apr 21;25(15):1817-1827.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i15.1817.

Considerations of elderly factors to manage the complication of liver cirrhosis in elderly patients

Kenya Kamimura  1 , Akira Sakamaki  2 , Hiroteru Kamimura  2 , Toru Setsu  2 , Takeshi Yokoo  2 , Masaaki Takamura  2 , Shuji Terai  2
Affiliations
Review

Considerations of elderly factors to manage the complication of liver cirrhosis in elderly patients

Kenya Kamimura et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

The aging of the organ function causes sensitivity to the disease progression and need careful consideration for the medical treatment. With the increase of aging population, the opportunity to provide medical treatment for people in very old age is rapidly increasing therefore, the understanding of the various physiological changes of cellular function, size and function of organs are essential for the decision of therapeutic options. Among the various chronic conditions seen in elderly people, we have focused on liver cirrhosis, since despite specific therapeutic options for many of liver diseases including direct acting antivirals for hepatitis C virus, nucleoside analogs for hepatitis B, and corticosteroids for autoimmune hepatitis, there is currently no standard therapy to treat liver cirrhosis, which is the final stage of these liver diseases. Therefore, management of the various symptoms of liver cirrhosis is essential, and aging-related parameters must be considered in the decision making for therapeutic strategies and dosage of the available medicine. In this mini-review, we have summarized the therapeutic options to manage various symptoms of liver cirrhosis, carefully considering the physiological changes of various organs associated with aging.

Keywords: Aging; Elderly patients; Liver cirrhosis; Quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no current financial arrangement or affiliation with any organization that may have a direct influence on their work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the changes of the body and possible risks treating the complication of the liver cirrhosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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