liver specialist

A:There is one of two types of doctors you may be referred to: a gastroenterologist which deals with the entire digestive system or a doctor that has specialized in the liver field known as a hepatologist. First it would be good to gather information, as much as you can on yourself: past hospitalization, past conditions, your family medical history, medications you are on, testings you have had done and the results if you had them, past childhood conditions, etc. It is very important that the doctor knows all the drugs you are using: this includes over the counter, herbs, herbal teas, vitamins, minerals, and medications prescribed by your other doctors. This is because most all medications are processed through the liver before going to the rest of the body. It would also be good to give him a listing of all doctors and hospitals you are connected to and the addresses and telephone numbers of how to reach them. With the medication, it is good to write out all the medications, how often you take them, how many you take at one time, who prescribed them, and what the reason is for you to be on them, what pharmacy you got them filled at and the phone number of the pharmacy. Usually, they will talk with you first and try to get this medical history from you. The information you can provide them in writing will give you more of a chance to get to what is wrong then just learning about your past medical info that may not be listed,to fill out,on their new patient forms. He may then do an examination where you will lie back and he will feel your abdominal area. He is feeling to see if your liver is enlarged and your spleen. The right lobe of the liver is located in the upper right section of your abdomen, under the rib cage..the left lobe extends out toward the middle of the upper abdomen. The liver is normally soft and smooth textured. If there is inflammation, the liver will enlarge and feel spongy. The doctor can sometimes tell this by pressing in this area. In some patients that have a liver problem, the spleen, which is located on the total other side of the body under the rib, may swell also. If the doctor thinks the liver is swelled, he may do a ultrasound or Ct scan to look at this area. From an ultrasound, he can see if the shape of the liver and if it is enlarged, if there are any nodules or tumors and also how the blood may be flowing through the liver. These are non invasive tests and there is no pain, except if they use contrast where they insert the contrast into a vein in the arm through a needle. He may do more blood work that will show him more like the genotype and viral loading. Most liver patients have blood work taken frequently. The most informative test to be sure about the liver is the liver biopsy. This will show them more than any other testing cause they will have a sample of the liver tissue itself and not just pictures of it. It is an invasive procedure, you can ask to be sedated....they numb the area with medication and then use a spring loaded needle to take the sample. The needle goes into the liver and out very fast. It usually takes longer to prepare for the test, then the testing itself. Here is a link that has many pamphlets to look at, even one on the liver biopsy. http://www.gihealth.com/html/education/pamphlets.html This site is the very best on the web for those who have Hepatitis...it is for Hepatitis C here, but is terrific for patient who have other types and also those who have developed cirrhosis. http://www.janis7hepc.com/ Since yours is Hepatitis B, here is a website that is good for that: http://www.medicinenet.com/hepatitis_b/article.htm Don't be afraid to ask the specialist any questions you may have. Sometimes it is good to write them down and take it with you as being in a doctor office, it is easy to forget things you wanted to know. I gave you a general overview...I hope it has been of some help. Hepatitis B can usually be treated and I've heard of others going into remission with it. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver cells. There are many things that can cause inflammation like this, a virus...like Hep A,B,C, etc., is just one of them. Cirrhosis of the liver is when the liver develops fibrosis that leads to scar tissue inside the liver and death of the liver cells. Inflammation of the liver can be treated and reversed in many cases. If inflammation is not treated, it can progress to the liver cells dying. I hope things work out for you. Best wishes.

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A:Unless you live close to a major research hospital, start with a GI doctor.

A:web md physician finder link http://doctor.webmd.com/physician_finder/home.aspx?sponsor=core

A:Contact the Gulf Coast chapter of the American Liver Foundation or call the National Helpline at 800-465-4837. They may be able to steer you in the right direction.