Liver Diseases
The importance of liver diseases in Western industrialized societies has increased continuously over the past years. One reason is that many liver diseases, such as hepatitis and the cholestatic liver diseases, have chronic clinical courses and lead ultimately to cirrhosis. Patients are then threatened with complications that have the potential for significantly restricting their physical and even mental capacities. An example of the latter is the so-called hepatic encephalopathy. The objective of treatment is to use all available therapeutic options to prevent or postpone the necessity of liver transplantation
