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To: JusPasenThru
Hepatic encephalopathy

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000302.htm Symptoms

changes in mental state, consciousness, behavior,

personality

forgetfulness

confusion, disorientation

delirium (acute, severe confusion with fluctuating level of consciousness)

dementia (loss of memory, intellect, reasoning, and other functions)

changes in mood

decreased alertness, daytime sleepiness

decreased responsiveness, progressive stupor

coma

decreased self-care ability

deterioration of handwriting or loss of other small hand movements

coarse muscletremors

muscle stiffness or rigidity

seizures (rare)

speech impairment

movement, uncontrollable

movement, dysfunctional agitation

Signs and tests

Neurologic symptoms may fluctuate. Coarse, "flapping" muscletremor may be observed during voluntary movement, such as when the person attempts to hold the arms out in front of the body (also exhibited as a positive Babinski's reflex).

Mental status examination will be abnormal, particularly cognitive tasks such as connecting numbers with lines.

Liver disease may be known or may be suspected, and signs of liver disease such as jaundice (yellow skin and eyes) and ascites (fluid collection in the abdomen) may be noted. Occasionally, there is a characteristic musty odor to the breath and the urine.

Blood tests may be nonspecific, or may show liver failure.

55 posted on 01/29/2005 9:18:10 AM PST by Darkwolf377
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To: Darkwolf377

You see, I told you....


61 posted on 01/29/2005 9:19:51 AM PST by JusPasenThru (http://giinthesky.blogspot.com/)
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To: Darkwolf377
when the person attempts to hold the arms out in front of the body (also exhibited as a positive Babinski's reflex

I hate to nitpick, but I think that's called asterixis. Maybe AQ Geiger could set us straight on that.

66 posted on 01/29/2005 9:23:53 AM PST by JusPasenThru (http://giinthesky.blogspot.com/)
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