{"id":8686,"date":"2024-05-08T20:32:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T20:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=8686"},"modified":"2024-05-08T20:32:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T20:32:53","slug":"pediatric-liver-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/pediatric-liver-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Pediatric Liver Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1426833322.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8687 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1426833322-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"A pediatric gastroenterologist checking a child for symptoms of liver disease.\" width=\"343\" height=\"233\" \/><\/a>Liver problems can lead to very serious medical complications. Whether these problems are urgent potential emergencies, such as acute liver failure, or long-term health issues, such as fatty liver disease, they can become life-threatening if they are not treated promptly and effectively. Liver problems are not rare in adults; according to the American Liver Foundation, they affect over 100 million people throughout the United States. However, in rare cases, they can also occur in children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most common type of liver condition in children is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which occurs when too much fat forms in the liver cells. NAFLD can occur due to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Obesity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Insulin resistance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Type 2 diabetes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abnormally high amounts of cholesterol or fat in the bloodstream<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sleep apnea<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In its early stages, NAFLD doesn\u2019t usually cause symptoms. As damage to the liver accumulates, the following symptoms may occur:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abdominal discomfort or pain<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fatigue<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Irritability, depression, and\/or anxiety<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Headaches<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Difficulty concentrating<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Changes in skin color around the joints, upper back, and\/or the back of the neck<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Continued damage to the liver over an extended period of time leads to cirrhosis, which refers to the formation of nodules on the liver. Cirrhosis also causes the liver to harden. As cirrhosis occurs, other symptoms may begin to appear, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Itching skin<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stomach swelling<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dark-colored urine<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bruising easily<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A variety of other conditions can also cause liver disease to occur in children. Many of these can occur as a result of a variety of factors, such as inherited genes or viral infections. They include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alagille syndrome<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Crigler-Najjar syndrome<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glycogen storage disease type 1<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gilbert syndrome<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Autoimmune liver disease<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Biliary atresia<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Budd-Chiari syndrome<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Galactosemia<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hepatitis B and C<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Primary sclerosing cholangitis<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reye\u2019s syndrome<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wilson disease<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If your child is experiencing symptoms of liver disease, it\u2019s important to visit a pediatrician as soon as possible. You can schedule an appointment at Forest Hills Pediatric Specialists by calling (718) 704-5020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page.   You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter.<strong>  PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liver problems can lead to very serious medical complications. Whether these problems are urgent potential emergencies, such as acute liver failure, or long-term health issues, such as fatty liver disease, they can become life-threatening if they are not treated promptly &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/pediatric-liver-disease\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1614,938,1645],"class_list":["post-8686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pediatric-care","tag-fatty-liver","tag-liver","tag-liver-disease"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8688,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions\/8688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}