One in 10 dementia patients might actually have a totally curable liver problem – and could REVERSE symptoms

ONE in 10 patients diagnosed with dementia may actually have a reversible liver condition, a study suggests.

Five to 10 per cent of veterans who were thought to have the memory robbing condition also had hepatic encephalopathy (HE), US researchers found.

GettyOne in 10 patients diagnosed with dementia may actually have a reversible liver condition[/caption]

The liver issue also causes issues with memory but can be treated and symptoms can be improved — unlike with dementia.

Dr Ashwin Dhana, a hepatologist at the University of Plymouth who was not involved in the research, said the study highlights the need for checking the livers of dementia patients.

Writing in The Conversation, he said: “Around 10 per cent of people diagnosed with dementia may instead have underlying silent liver disease with HE causing or contributing to the symptoms — an important diagnosis to make as HE is treatable.

“This study opens an important new avenue of research. It raises the awareness of checking for liver disease in people with general symptoms of dementia. 

“This is likely to be a growing problem as the rates of both dementia and cirrhosis are increasing.”

Around 944,000 Brits are currently living with dementia and experts predict the numbers will exceed one million by the end of the decade.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of the condition, and is thought to be caused by build-ups of proteins in the brain, including tau and amyloid.

There is currently no cure for the disease, although promising drugs to slow down its progress are currently in trials.

Hepatic encephalopathy is one of the major complications of cirrhosis — liver damage — and causes changes in the brain.

It can occur suddenly in people with acute liver failure but is more often seen in those with chronic liver disease.

If the liver becomes less able to filter out toxins in the blood when it becomes damaged, and some of these can reach the brain.

This can cause symptoms including confusion, forgetfulness and personality or mood changes — similar to some forms of dementia.

However, HE patients can be treated with laxatives to help remove ammonia and other toxins from the gut.

They may also be given an antibiotic called rifaximin to kill some of the ammonia-producing bacteria in the bowels.

In severe cases, patients may require a liver transplant.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at rates of the condition in 177,422 US veterans who had been previously diagnosed with dementia.

None had previously been diagnosed with cirrhosis.

Researchers looked at blood tests which helped produce a Fibrosis-4 score — an indicator of scarring on the liver, which occurs in cirrhosis.

Lead author Dr Jasmohan Bajaj, of Virginia Commonwealth University, said around one in 10 had scores indicating HE was the cause of their symptoms.

He said: “Five to 10 per cent of the patients have laboratory values suggestive of possible undiagnosed cirrhosis that could implicate HE as a contributor to overall cognitive impairment.”