- The main cholestatic diseases are: primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis.
- Primary biliary cholangitis is considered rare, although cases are occurring with increasing frequency.
- While primary sclerosing cholangitis has a higher incidence in men over 40 years of age.
The list of health problems that can develop is too long. Some tend to receive more attention than others and that causes some to remain forgotten. Such is the case of the cholestatic diseases because to date there are few people who know what they consist of and those that are most common among the population.
The human body amazes with how wonderful and capable it is due to the multiple activities it can perform at the same time. Within its elements there is an essential organ in the process of absorption and disintegration of food: the liver. It is mainly responsible for the production and secretion of bile.
What are cholestatic diseases?
They are clinical-biochemical syndromes and develop in any alteration that interferes with bile synthesis in the hepatocyte and its modification at the level of the bile ducts and ducts until its expulsion in the digestive tract.
In general, any process that sees physiological mechanisms altered produces a complex of clinical, analytical and anatomo-pathological manifestations that are commonly called cholestasis.
What causes cholestatic diseases?
There are various causes that often lead to the appearance of this clinical condition. As for intrahepatic cholestasis, acute causes are usually involved, such as: hepatitis virus, some bacterial infections and hereditary diseases. In the case of extrahepatic cholestasis, it is usually due to causes such as parasites, Mirizzi syndrome, and choledocholithiasis.
What are the types of cholestatic diseases?
There are mainly two types of cholestatic diseases and they are: primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis.
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)
As a curious fact, this condition is considered a “rare” disease; however, currently cases are beginning to appear more frequently. Primary biliary cholangitis is a cholestatic disease that preferentially affects middle-aged women and is characterized by an alteration of the epithelium of the small and medium-caliber bile ducts with inflammation that generally leads to liver cirrhosis.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
It usually affects men and women at any time of growth, but there has been a higher incidence of cases in men around 40 years of age. Sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic disease with unknown causes and is characterized by symptoms such as inflammation, fibrosis and stenosis of the intra and extrahepatic bile ducts.
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