Symptoms that are sometimes diagnosed as part of dementia might actually be related to a treatable liver condition, according to a recent study.
Up to 13% of patients believed to have dementia are likely to have advanced liver disease instead, according to researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCU Health) and the Richmond VA Medical Center.
While liver disease is a serious and potentially life-threatening illness, the cognitive decline associated with the disease is reversible with the right treatment.
The researchers note that doctors sometimes struggle to distinguish dementia from hepatic encephalopathy, which is cognitive decline caused by cirrhosis. As liver function declines, toxins can build up in the blood and travel to the brain.
Medications are available to rid the body of such toxins. However, if it is left to progress for too long, hepatic encephalopathy can become difficult or impossible to treat.
In a summary of the study findings, Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj — the study’s corresponding author and a gastroenterologist with the VCU Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health and the Richmond VA Medical Center — says:
“This important link between dementia and liver health emphasizes the importance of screening patients for potentially treatable contributors to cognitive decline.”
He added that such screening is easy to perform through a noninvasive tool known as the FIB-4 index.
For more about the role of the liver in cognitive health, check out “Common Liver Disease Linked to Higher Dementia Risk.”
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