hepatic encephalopathy

[cheesef]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read in the internet that hepatic encephalopathy is brain dysfunction associated with liver disease. What I'm not all too clear about are its symptoms. Some list forgetfulness, some even have stages, but the descriptions are pretty vague to me. Is there any way to differentiate from the forgetfulness of a person with this disease to a normally forgetful person? Does absent-mindedness count as a symptom (because lack of awareness has been put up on the list)? And for people like me who, I'm embarassed to say, still use their fingers when adding and subtracting numbers more than 10, does impaired ability to add and subtract mean a slower thought process or an impaired ability to do mental calculations (in which case detecting the symptom would be difficult)?

[Purple98Lady]

Hi chessaf,

Hepatic encephalopathy is associated with liver conditions or diseases of the liver. Hepatic has to do with the liver, encephalopathy has to do with disease of the brain, which can itself have many causes. Unless you are having neurological symptoms or an altered mental state chances are you don't have this condition. Howere I'm not a Dr. and only your Dr. can address your forgetfullness. There are many test he can do to determine your level of forgetfullness whether its age related or because of a disease process, or a learning disability.


http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/hepatic-encephalopathy

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalopathy/encephalopathy.


If you notice your not up to par mentally as you may have been before its best to be evaluated by your Dr and discuss with him. You can read many medical conditions on the internet and associate some of your symptoms with just about any but only a Dr. can tell you for sure through examination and testing. Good Luck and let us know:smile:

Purple98Lady