What is primary biliary cirrhosis?
The sites I looked at have conflicting information. Some said it's a disorder that can progress to cirrhosis, which is life-threatening. Sme said most cases don't, though, and that it doesn't decrease the life span because it progresses so slowly (some say the contrary). Some say it's rare, some seem to give the impression that many people live with it. Some even have different symptoms listed. So now I don't know what t believe. Help?
Answers:
Primary biliary chirrhosis is an autoimmune disease (the body is producing antibodies against itself). Other autoimmune diseases include e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and lupus.
You pose a difficult question. The reason you are seeing conflicting information is that no one can predict how the disease will progress in a certain individual. For some, the progress of primary biliary chirrhosis is very slow and life span is not decreased. At the other end of the spectrum, the disease may progress quickly to severe liver damage and life span is greatly reduced. For individuals who are asymptomatic (do not have any symptoms due to this disease), life expectancy is good, but for those who are symptomatic (have symptoms), life expectancy is reduced - but to what extent, only time will tell in each case.
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