Real transplant stories
People can find themselves in need of a liver transplant for many reasons and at any age. There is no dialysis for liver failure and treatment options for advanced liver disease are limited.
There are many reasons why the liver can fail including the effects of:
- alcohol
- viral hepatitis
- autoimmune diseases
- diseases of the bile ducts
- inherited genetic diseases
- paracetamol poisoning.
In some circumstances a cause of liver failure cannot be identified.
The liver performs over 500 functions
Once the liver begins to fail quality of life can be very poor with symptoms such as fatigue, itchy skin, abdominal swelling and mental confusion as toxins start to build up in the brain.
Sadly by the time many patients are diagnosed it is too late to repair the damaged liver.
Liver transplant is a last resort
Transplantation is a major operation and a doctor will advise a transplant only when it is thought this will either dramatically improve quality of life or that, without a transplant, the patient will die.
Recent advances have led to a number of 'live' donor transplants where a living donor gives part of their own liver to a loved one. Last year there were 27 living liver transplants - but this remains a complex and risky operation.
More donors needed
Every year up to 3,000 people in the UK die from cirrhosis and about 600 -700 people undergo a liver transplant to survive.
Around 100 people die each year while waiting on the list for a suitable liver. Tragically some people will be considered too ill to even be added to the waiting list.
Many more could benefit from a liver transplant but the limitation to this is the number of donors.
Show your support for organ donation by adding your photo and message to the Wall of Life at www.walloflife.org.uk
Life long medication
The body will always see the 'new' liver as a foreign agent. This means that although many people have very full and active lives after transplant, they will need to take medication for the rest of their lives in order to stop the body rejecting the donor liver.
Future advances
Further medical innovations are needed to help treat people with liver disease. The British Liver Trust campaigns to improve the lives of those living with liver disease, offering information and support and funding research.
The Trust is currently running a survey for liver transplant recipients to collect views regarding immunosuppressant medication and, more specifically, automatic generic substitution. Read here for more information