Hepatorenal syndrome is a life-threatening medical condition that
consists of rapid deterioration in kidney function in individuals with
cirrhosis or fulminant liver failure. HRS is usually fatal unless a
liver transplant is performed, although various treatments, including
dialysis, can help over the short term. While HRS can affect
individuals with cirrhosis (regardless of cause), severe alcoholic
hepatitis, or fulminant hepatic failure, it usually occurs when liver
function deteriorates rapidly due to an acute injury, such as an
infection, bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, or overuse of
diuretic medications. HRS is a relatively common complication of
cirrhosis, occurring in 18% of cirrhotics within one year of their
diagnosis, and in 39% of cirrhotics within five years of their
diagnosis. Deteriorating liver function is believed to cause changes in
the circulation that supplies the intestines, altering blood flow and
blood vessel tone in the kidneys. Two forms of hepatorenal syndrome
have been defined: Type 1 HRS entails a rapidly progressive decline in
kidney function, while type 2 HRS is associated with ascites that does
not improve with standard diuretic medications. The risk of death in
hepatorenal syndrome is very high; the mortality of individuals with
type 1 HRS is over 50% over the short term, as determined by historical
case series. The only long-term treatment option for the condition is
liver transplantation.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatorenal_syndrome>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
The crew of the overcrowded British slave ship Zong murdered 133
African slaves by dumping them into the sea in order to claim
insurance.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong_Massacre>
1854:
The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time during the Eureka Stockade
rebellion in Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Flag>
1864:
American Indian Wars: A 700-man Colorado Territory militia attacked a
village of Cheyenne and Arapaho, killing 133 Cheyenne and Arapaho men,
women, and children.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre>
1877:
Thomas Edison demonstrated the phonograph , his invention for recording
and replaying sound, for the first time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/phonograph>
1890:
The Diet of Japan, Japan's bicameral legislature modelled after both
the German Reichstag and the British Westminster system, first met
after the Meiji Constitution went into effect.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Japan>
1929:
American explorer Richard Evelyn Byrd and three others completed the
first flight over the South Pole.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Evelyn_Byrd>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
languish (v):
1. To lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or
sickness.
2. To pine away in longing for something; to have low spirits,
especially from love
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/languish>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Revolutions are not made; they come. A revolution is as natural a
growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. Its foundations are laid
far back.
--Wendell Phillips
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Phillips>