Stem cell therapy in liver disease

Abstract

Cirrhosis, the end result of long term liver damage, has long been an important cause of death in UK. The data from Chief Medical Officer in 2001 showed following trends [1]. Over 4,000 people died from the disease in the last year of the 20th Century, two thirds of them before their 65th birthday. Cirrhosis of the liver is an important cause of illness and death. In 2000 it killed more men than Parkinson's disease and more women than cancer of the cervix. Large rises in death rates from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis have occurred in most age groups. The rise in deaths from cirrhosis amongst younger people is of particular concern where binge-drinking patterns appear to be common. In 2000 cirrhosis accounted for nearly 500 deaths in men aged 25-44 years and nearly 300 deaths in women of this age group [1]. Trends in deaths cretified as due to "chronic liver deasease and cirrhosis" shows a striking pattern. In the last 30 years of the 20th Century deaths from liver cirrhosis stedily increased. The largest increases were in people aged 35 to 44 years where the death rate, went up 8-fold in men and almost 7-fold in women. By 1999, there were about 9,000 admissions with a main diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease and about 3,000 admissions with cirrhosis of the liver [2]. © 2006 Springer-Verlag/Wien.