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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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