What is liver fibrosis, how does liver fibrosis arise, and how is liver fibrosis related to cirrhosis? First of all, liver fibrosis and liver fiber are two different concepts. Liver fiber is a substance present in our body, and the presence of the right amount of liver fiber plays a protective role for our liver cells. Liver fibrosis, on the other hand, is a pathological change that is necessary for the progression of various chronic liver diseases to cirrhosis. The change from liver fibrosis to cirrhosis is a process from quantitative to qualitative change. Under the action of various liver-damaging factors, hepatocytes become degenerative and necrotic, the body repairs various chronic injuries, and fibers in the liver proliferate. It is just like the formation of scars after our skin is injured. If the defective area formed after the necrotic cells are removed by the body can be repaired by proliferating hepatocytes, the degree of liver fibrosis is mild or even no fibrosis, and the occurrence and development of fibrosis can be terminated in time through active treatment so as to avoid the occurrence of cirrhosis; if the defective area is filled with proliferating fibrous tissue, the degree of liver fibrosis is more severe. Fibrous tissue keeps proliferating and invading into liver tissue, destroying the structure of normal liver tissue, affecting the blood supply of liver cells, gradually losing various functions of the liver, and hardening the texture of the liver, which is cirrhosis. Once cirrhosis is formed, the lesion cannot be reversed and the patient can only die from the complications of cirrhosis in the end. What are the causes of liver fibrosis and the dangers of liver fibrosis? A variety of infectious or non-infectious factors such as hepatitis virus, schistosomiasis, alcohol, drugs, metabolic and genetic, cholestasis, autoimmune liver disease and other long-term sustained damage to the liver, will lead to the formation of liver fibrosis. In our country, viral hepatitis among chronic liver diseases, especially chronic hepatitis B, is the most important factor leading to cirrhosis. The replication of hepatitis virus stimulates the body’s immune system, and the immune lymphocytes are activated to remove the virus, but at the same time “mistakenly” injure the liver cells, producing an inflammatory response that induces abnormal proliferation of fibrous connective tissue in the liver, resulting in the formation of liver fibrosis. When liver fibrosis is not effectively controlled at an early stage, it can “quietly” progress. It is like an injury to our skin. When the skin is cut, it will “scab”, and when the liver is “injured”, it will also “scab”, and the “scab” will be necrotic. The liver will lose its original function as an important “processing plant” and gradually evolve into cirrhosis, which people are afraid to talk about. Although cirrhosis is triggered by liver-damaging factors, studies have shown that in some cases, even if these causes are effectively controlled, the process of liver fibrosis can still quietly continue. Therefore, when treating patients with chronic liver disease, liver fibrosis will eventually progress to cirrhosis if it is treated solely from the etiology without considering effective control of liver fibrosis. Once formed, cirrhosis will affect the function of the liver. In the early stage of cirrhosis, the patient’s liver function is still good, but as the disease progresses to the advanced stage, the patient’s liver function is severely damaged, which will eventually lead to life-threatening complications such as upper gastrointestinal bleeding, hypersplenism, ascites formation, hepatic encephalopathy and so on. Chen Yifei died of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage because his liver fibrosis was not well controlled in the early stage and slowly progressed to the advanced stage of cirrhosis with severely impaired liver function and high portal vein pressure. In addition, research also shows that cirrhosis is closely related to liver cancer. In China, more than 80% of liver cancer patients are combined with different degrees of cirrhosis, and cirrhosis is considered an important precancerous lesion of liver cancer, which means that the progression of liver fibrosis increases the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic liver disease. After liver damage, how to protect the liver and prevent it from quietly entering the cirrhosis stage, and how to prevent it from further development when cirrhosis is formed? Prevention can be done from the following aspects: 1. Strengthen rest and avoid straining and staying up late. These will break the body’s relatively balanced immune status, so that the person’s immunity is reduced, leading to the recurrence of chronic hepatitis. For example, Chen Yifei during the onset of the disease, but still insisted on working hard at his job, and eventually became sick with strain. If he could have stopped and rested more at that time, the situation might not have developed so fast. Therefore, chronic liver disease should not be overworked, if the disease is not serious, you can do some appropriate exercise; but serious cases must be bed rest to protect the liver. 2, stable emotions, to avoid high tension, excessive work pressure, mood swings. Patients with cirrhosis are prone to irritability and emotional changes, and such emotional fluctuations are not conducive to the repair of liver cells, but rather speed up the progress of liver fibrosis. Therefore, patients with cirrhosis must establish a strong will and often maintain an optimistic and cheerful state of mind. 3, a light diet, avoid greasy, fried, spicy food, and pay attention to the intake of more nutritious, high vitamin food, as well as beans, soy products and fresh vegetables and fruits. In addition to this, you can also eat more acidic things, such as hawthorn and vinegar, which are also helpful in protecting the liver. As for patients with cirrhosis, they should pay attention to avoiding the intake of too rough food to avoid cutting the blood vessels in the esophageal wall and causing fatal hemorrhage, and also avoiding the intake of too much high protein diet to avoid inducing hepatic encephalopathy 4. They must quit drinking and smoking, and avoid using or use as little as possible all drugs that are harmful to the liver. Alcohol and cigarettes are harmful to the liver and should be quit. Do not blindly abuse drugs, so as not to increase the burden on the liver. 5, early diagnosis, early treatment. Liver fibrosis and even early cirrhosis can be reversed. The proliferation and degradation of collagen fibers in the liver is a dynamic and balanced process, and if the “synthesis” can be artificially inhibited and the “degradation” promoted at an early stage, the proliferation of collagen fibers can be reversed. Since the occurrence of liver fibrosis involves several links and factors, the treatment strategy should take into account all aspects of the development of liver fibrosis, including treatment of the primary disease (such as effective inhibition of hepatitis virus replication, killing schistosomes, abstaining from alcohol, etc.), anti-liver inflammation, inhibition of collagen fiber formation and promotion of collagen degradation (giving certain Chinese medicine preparations “compound turtle shell soft liver tablets, Fu Zheng Hua Yu capsule This can help reverse liver fibrosis and prevent the disease from progressing to cirrhosis or even liver cancer.