Signs that your liver health is declining

The liver is one of the most important organs of the human body and is responsible for several life-sustaining functions. It is the body’s largest gland which is responsible for the production of bile. Bile juice helps breakdown food in the small intestine and absorbs the fats and cholesterol from the food.

Bile also breaks down food for digestion for the stomach. Due to this and several other vital functions performed by the liver, it is important to keep this organ healthy. Here are some habits that can damage your liver, reported :

  *  Over-consumption of alcohol
  *  Not drinking enough water
  *  Smoking
  * Gaining too much weight
 *  Lack of physical exercise
 * Excess stress
* Consuming too many painkillers and carbonated drinks

If you find that you have any if the above habits or lifestyles, then be sure to keep an eye out for these symptoms that maybe indicating any liver damage. If liver health is ignored, it can lead to several diseases. Early detection of any liver damage can prevent the worsening of the situation.
Watch out for these signs and symptoms:

Yellow tinted skin and eyes due to irregular levels of bilirubin. When the liver function is affected, there is an elevation in the levels of bilirubin in our bloodstream. This yellowish-green coloured fluid then pigments our skin giving it a yellow tint.

If the liver is extensively damaged, then it gets swollen. It is then seen as swelling in our abdomen. This can also happen post an accident if there are internal injuries to the liver. If you find an abnormal swelling in your abdominal region, then make sure to get it checked immediately.
 
Extreme fatigue is yet another symptom. Liver patients usually suffer from a continuous feeling of weakness and are unable to perform day to day tasks. While fatigue is a symptom for a range of disorders, make sure to get it checked nevertheless to rule out any health problems.
 
Due to excess production of bilirubin, the urine also tends to get a darker colour. But make sure this isn’t the only symptom making you think you have a liver problem. Not drinking enough water also makes the urine darker.
 
Nausea is also a common symptom of liver damage. You will find yourself continually nauseous and it will also lead to a decrease in your appetite. The nutritional deficiency then leads to weakness of the body. 

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This Fantastic New App Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer

Better screening tools for all cancers would be great, but one type in particular where it could have a huge impact is pancreatic cancer. The symptoms of this devastating disease don’t reveal themselves until it’s well advanced, and it carries a five-year survival rate of just 5-9%.
 
Now, scientists have developed an app that could allow people to easily detect pancreatic cancer by simply scanning the white part of the eye for one of the disease’s early tell-tale signs.

One of the early signs of pancreatic cancer is jaundice, which is characterized by yellowing of the skin and eyes as a result of the buildup of a substance in the blood known as bilirubin. However, the trouble with bilirubin buildup, other than the fact that it can be an indication of several diseases, is that it can only be detected by blood tests that doctors won’t administer unless there is already cause for concern.
 
We have already recently seen exciting progress towards a urine test for pancreatic cancer, but this new app would require no bodily fluids at all.

Dubbed Biliscreen, this app uses a smartphone camera along with computer vision algorithms and machine learning to detect increased levels of bilirubin in the white part of the eye, known as the sclera. In adults, the sclera is more sensitive than the skin to elevated bilirubin levels and the team hopes that Biliscreen will be able to detect these changes before they become visible to naked eye, when it’s already too late.   

The senior author of the study, states that “the eyes are a really interesting gateway into the body – tears can tell you how much glucose you have, sclera can tell you how much bilirubin is in your blood. Our question was: Could we capture some of these changes that might lead to earlier detection with a selfie?”
The technology was put to the test in a clinical trial that involved 70 people. The app was used in combination with either a special box made to control light exposure or paper glasses to calibrate color. The team found that it was able to detect causes for concern 89.7% of the time.

It works by using the camera and flash to capture an image of the eye, and then computer vision software to isolate the sclera. The app then assesses the wavelengths of light that are being reflected and absorbed by the sclera, calculating color information, and then uses machine learning algorithms to correlate that with bilirubin levels.

The co-author of the study, explains that “this relatively small initial study shows the technology has promise. Pancreatic cancer is a terrible disease with no effective screening right now. Our goal is to have more people who are unfortunate enough to get pancreatic cancer to be fortunate enough to catch it in time to have surgery that gives them a better chance of survival.”

Now, the team is looking to build on these exciting early results by testing the app on larger groups of people at risk of jaundice and other related conditions. They are also going to try to make the technology more convenient to use, by possibly removing the need for the box or glasses.

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Nanomeds can cure jaundice faster: Indian scientists

The age-old home remedy for jaundice - nimbu paani or lemon juice - has now got a 21st century spin, thanks to Indian scientists.
They have literally squeezed lemons to nano-dimensions to create a nanodrug for speedy and accurate therapy of the disease.

Widening the scope of nanomedicines in India, scientists in West Bengal have designed special nanoparticles that break down bilirubin - the yellow pigment found in bile, a fluid made by the liver.

Essential to liver health, higher than normal levels of bilirubin in blood (hyperbilirubinemia), may indicate certain diseases, including jaundice, in adults as well as newborns.

"High levels may lead to brain damage or even death in newborns and adults, if not treated. To combat this, we designed manganese oxide nanoparticles capped with citrate, a derivative of citric acid found in citrus fruits such as lemons," Nabarun Polley, of S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, told IANS.
Polley, a senior researcher at the Centre's department of chemical, biological and macro-molecular sciences, explained that this nano-hybrid helps to degrade bilirubin and bring it down to a normal level swiftly.

"It is actually like nimbu paani administered through nanoparticles," said Polley, adding lemon juice is usually suggested due to its cleansing nature.

Through experiments performed on lab mice, Polley and his co-investigators at Jadavpur University and Dey's Medical, showed the nanoparticles to be safe, compatible with the body, and proved that they had the ability to act directly and specifically on the target-bilirubin.

This ensures the nanodrug doesn't affect any organ. There were no toxic effects after the particles were injected into the mice and parameters like blood cell count didn't change," said collaborator Soumendra Darbar, research and development division, Dey's Medical Stores (Mfg.) Ltd.

In fact, this precision which is the product's USP, also takes care of the time factor.

"It brought down high bilirubin levels within two hours (in mice) while the commercially available drug silymarin took more than a day to control the levels for the equivalent dose," said Polley, adding the group has been working on this specific nanoparticle for the last five years.

The latest findings, which are currently in press for publication in the Nanomedicine journal, open a new door for "cost-effective and efficient therapeutic treatment of hyperbilirubinemia, jaundice and associated diseases," according to group leader Samir Kumar Pal.
"We have been working on detection as well as the treatment aspect of elevated bilirubin. In the near future, we could help avoid preventable deaths of newborns," said Pal, professor at the Centre's department of chemical, biological and macro-molecular sciences.
Union Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan, post his visit to Pal's lab recently, had highlighted on Facebook that neonatal jaundice deaths, comprise 18 percent of newborn mortality in India.

He was particularly impressed with a non-invasive, computer-based fibre-optic detector fabricated by the group that detects bilirubin levels within three seconds by shining light on the white part of one's eye.

"Nanomedicine has huge potential for India as it has elsewhere in the world. Specially, diagnostics promises to offer cheap and faster way for detecting diseases for India. This has a huge potential for India because our healthcare is not as widespread," said Praveer Asthana, Mission Director, Nano Mission,Department of Science & Technology, India.

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Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a smartphone app that checks for jaundice in newborns and can deliver results to parents and pediatricians within minutes.

Jaundice is a common condition in babies less than a week old. Skin that turns yellow can be a sure sign that a newborn is jaundiced and isn't adequately eliminating the chemical bilirubin.

However, that discolouration is sometimes hard to see, and severe jaundice left untreated can harm a
baby.

The new app, developed by the University of Washington engineers and physicians, could serve as a screening tool to determine whether a baby needs a blood test - the gold standard for detecting high levels of bilirubin.

"Virtually every baby gets jaundiced, and we're sending them home from the hospital even before bilirubin levels reach their peak," said James Taylor, a UW professor of pediatrics and medical director of the newborn nursery at UW Medical Center.

"This smartphone test is really for babies in the first few days after they go home. A parent or health care provider can get an accurate picture of bilirubin to bridge the gap after leaving the hospital," Taylor said.

The app, called BiliCam, uses a smartphone's camera and flash and a colour calibration card.

A parent or health care professional would download the app, place the card on her baby's belly, then take a picture with the card in view. The card calibrates and accounts for different lighting conditions and skin tones.

Data from the photo are sent to the cloud and are analysed by machine-learning algorithms, and a report on the newborn's bilirubin levels is sent almost instantly to the parent's phone.

"This is a way to provide peace of mind for the parents of newborns," said Shwetak Patel, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering and of electrical engineering.

A noninvasive jaundice screening tool is available in some hospitals, but the instrument costs several thousand dollars and isn't feasible for home use, researchers said.

Currently, both doctors and parents assess jaundice by looking for the yellow colour in a newborn's skin, but this visual assessment is only moderately accurate.

The UW team developed BiliCam to be easy to use and affordable for both clinicians and parents, especially during the first several days after birth when it's crucial to check for jaundice.

The team ran a clinical study with 100 newborns and their families at UW Medical Center.

They used a blood test, the current screening tool used in hospitals, and BiliCam to test the babies when they were between two and five days old.

They found that BiliCam performed as well as or better than the current screening tool. Though it wouldn't replace a blood test, BiliCam could let parents know if they should take that next step, researchers said.

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