Symptoms of Mitochondrial Liver Disease

Another name for mitochondrial liver disease is mitochondrial hepatopathies. The mitochondria are inside each cell and give the cell power and energy. Each cell in the body has as many as 2,000 mitochondria to keep it alive. If the mitochondria in a group of cells cease to work, then the cells start to die and the organ where they exist doesn't function, in this case, the liver. You can have mitochodrial disease in any organ of the body. The symptoms are the clue to where the problem exists.

Age and Appearance

Mitochondrial liver disease can begin at any age, but normally it starts in childhood. If the cause is genetic, it may begin very early in the child's life. Sometimes mutation of the genes occurs when the disease reaches "threshold expression": the critical point when symptoms begin. The symptoms can begin slowly or suddenly appear.

Types

Mitrochondrial hepatophathies are of two major types. In the first, the mitochondria simply can't produce enough energy. It's a disorder of the respiratory chain caused by the incomplete formation of the mitochondria. In the second, some of the necessary enzymes to get energy from fat are missing, so there's no energy feeding the cells of the liver. This is a defect of the fatty oxidation process.

Initial Signs

Most of the time, you'll recognize symptoms of liver disease. The individual has a yellow tint to the skin and eyes from jaundice, may vomit and feel weak. Patients often have symptoms of the flu and need increasing amounts of sleep.

Blood Sugar and Lactic Acid

Hypoglycemia--low blood sugar-- is a signal there there's a problem with the liver making the glucose to feed the other parts of the body. A person with low blood sugar may be weak, agitated or pass out. The disorder also causes the liver to create more lactic acid and it goes into the blood stream. Doctors use a blood test to find this problem. If there's too much lactic acid in the blood, there are signs of muscle weakness, which can be a sign of mitochondrial liver disease.

More Advanced Disorder

When the physician feels the patient's abdomen, it might show signs of hardness or enlargement. This indicates there's damage to the liver. In young children, motor skills are slower to develop. The intestines function more slowly and it causes swelling of the abdomen due to constipation. Seizures are a potential symptom in later stages.

Diagnosis

Once doctors narrow the problem to a liver disease, they consider the diagnosis of mitochondrial liver disease as the cause. This is particularly true if the patient has multisystem breakdowns, dramatic and rapid liver failure, and neuromuscular symptoms with no other easily explainable illness or condition