Liver failure
Liver failure may be defined as the inability of the liver to function at the level required to detoxify the body of the products of metabolism, such as ammonia from protein breakdown, or to synthesise effectively the agents required to ensure normal blood clotting. It may occur acutely as a consequence, for example, of liver damage following paracetamol overdose when it may develop over a period of days, or it may come on more slowly against a background of a chronic liver disease such as cirrhosis. The build-up of toxic waste products affects brain function (causing a condition called encephalopathy) by mechanisms which are not completely understood: it progresses from mild drowsiness through agitation and confusion to stupor and coma. Problems with the production of the agents required to help our blood clot results in prolonged bleeding.
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