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Posts Tagged ‘Bile duct’

A Cholangiocarcinoma and Receiving Social Security Disability

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
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Cancer is much larger than one disease. It is a group of diseases that are marked by cells that are invasive (they invade and destroy adjacent tissue), aggressive (they grow and divide without respect to normal limits) and sometimes metastatic (they spread to other parts of the body).

There are many different types of cancer. They are usually named for where they start in your body. For example, liver cancer begins in your liver. Stomach cancer begins in your stomach. Even when it spreads to other organs, cancer is still named by where it starts in your body.

Cancer is also classified by the type of cell that the tumor looks like. Some examples of this are germ cell tumor, lymphoma, blastic tumor, sarcoma and carcinoma.

A cholangiocarcinoma is a cancerous tumor that grows in one of your bile ducts that carry bile from your liver to your small intestine. A cholangiocarcinoma is often a slow-growing cancer that does not metastasize (spread) rapidly, but a large number of these tumors are already well-advanced before they are diagnosed.

A cholangiocarcinoma can originate anywhere along your bile ducts. As this tumor grows, it blocks off your bile ducts.

Fortunately, a cholangiocarcinoma is rare. It affects about 2 out of every 100,000 people in the United States.

A cholangiocarcinoma affects both men and women. Most of the time, it affects people who are over the age of 65.

A cholangiocarcinoma is caused by defective (mutated) cells in your bile ducts. However, no one knows for sure what causes these mutations to occur.

There are some risk factors that may increase your likelihood of getting a cholangiocarcinoma. Some of these are:

  • A history of infection with the parasitic worm that is known as liver flukes
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Choledochal (bile duct) cysts
  • Primary sclerosing cholangitis
  • Chronic biliary irritation.

You may not experience any signs and symptoms with a cholangiocarcinoma until the disease is advanced. Possible signs and symptoms include:

  • Unintentional weight loss
  • Itching
  • Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
  • Chills
  • Loss of appetite
  • Pain in your upper right abdomen that may radiate around to your back
  • Clay-colored stools
  • Fever.

You or a loved one may be afflicted with a cholangiocarcinoma. A cholangiocarcinoma and/or complications that have resulted from it or other disorders that you have besides this disease may have led to you or your loved one’s disability and not being able to work.

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Choledochal Cysts and Receiving Social Security Disability

Monday, February 21st, 2011
5 types of Choledochal cysts. Type I: dilatati...

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Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ. It is located right below your liver, on the right side of your abdomen.

Your gallbladder helps in the digestive process. It also stores and concentrates bile that has been produced in your liver.

Bile is a digestive fluid that is secreted continuously by your liver. It neutralizes acids and emulsifies fats in partially digested food.

Choledochal cysts are cysts (hollow outpouching) of your bile ducts. In infants, choledochal cysts can obstruct the bile ducts and cause retention of bile. This can result in an enlarged liver and jaundice. If not relieved, obstruction of the bile ducts can result in permanent liver damage (cirrhosis and scarring).

In adults, choledochal cysts are marked by intermittent bouts of jaundice, abdominal pain and sometimes cholangitis.

There are five common types of choledochal cysts. However, there are many combinations and variations of these five types of choledochal cysts that are occasionally encountered. They are classified according to the location and size of the cysts.

Fortunately, choledochal cysts are rare. Somewhere around 1 in 100,000 to 150,000 people is afflicted with them in the United States. Choledochal cysts can be identified at any age, but 60% of them are diagnosed before the age of 10. Women outnumber men with choledochal cysts by a ration of 4:1.

The cause of choledochal cysts is not known at this time. Researchers believe that they may result from an abnormal connection between your hepatic and pancreatic ducts. What is known is that choledochal cysts are congenital. This means that you are born with them.

The signs and symptoms of choledochal cysts may not appear for several years. In adults, possible signs and symptoms are:

  • Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
  • Pain
  • Abdominal mass
  • Cholangitis
  • Obstruction of your bile ducts
  • Retention of bile.

Choledochal cysts would not usually be an ailment that would enable you to receive Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits. However, you or a loved one may have complications that have resulted from these cysts and/or you may have other disabling disorders along with them that have resulted in you or your loved one’s disability and being unable to work.

You may need help as a result of this. You may need financial assistance.

You or your loved one may be thinking about applying for the financial help that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by choledochal cysts and complications that have been caused by them and/or other disabling disorders that you may have along with this ailment. You or your loved one may have already taken this step, and your application was denied by the Social Security Administration.

If you or your loved one is considering reapplying or appealing the denial, here is something important to think about. The simple truth is that people who have a disability lawyer fighting for them like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability attorney.

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Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and Receiving Social Security Disability

Monday, September 27th, 2010
Anatomy of the biliary tree, liver and gall bl...
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Your liver is the largest glandular organ in your body. It is located on the right side of your abdominal cavity beneath your diaphragm.

Your liver does many things. It produces urea (the main substance of urine), makes certain amino acids (building blocks of protein), filters harmful substances from your blood, breaks down fats, converts glucose to glycogen, stores minerals and vitamins and maintains the right level of glucose in your blood.

Your bile ducts are tubes inside of your liver that are used to transport bile. Bile is a substance that is produced in your liver. It is essential to the proper digestion of fats. Bile also helps your body to eliminate worn-out red blood cells, toxins and cholesterol.

Primary biliary cirrhosis is a chronic (ongoing, continuing) disease that causes your bile ducts inside of your liver to become damaged, irritated and inflamed (swollen). This blocks the flow of bile and damages cells in your liver. The bile ducts in your liver are slowly destroyed. The result is that harmful substances can build up inside of your liver and result in cirrhosis (irreversible scarring of your liver).

Primary biliary cirrhosis is much more common in women than men. In fact, more than 90% of the people with this disease are women. It is most prevalent in middle-aged people between the ages of 35 and 60, although children and older adults can get primary biliary cirrhosis.

Some people do not experience any signs and symptoms for years after they have been diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis. Other people have signs and symptoms near the beginning of this chronic disease. Some of the signs and symptoms that you may experience are:

  • Sicca syndrome (dry mouth and eyes)
  • Blotchy, darker skin (hyperpigmentation)
  • Itching
  • Edema (swollen feet)
  • Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
  • Fatigue
  • Xanthomas (cholesterol deposits)
  • Ascites (swollen abdomen)
  • Digestive problems like steatorrhea (foul-smelling, greasy stools) and diarrhea
  • Fatty deposits under your skin
  • Abdominal pain
  • An enlarged liver.

You or your loved one may be suffering from primary biliary cirrhosis. This disease and/or complications resulting from it may be why you are disabled and cannot work. It may be why you need help.

Do you or your loved one plan on applying for financial assistance from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by primary biliary cirrhosis and/or complications resulting from this disease? Have you or your loved one already tried this and been denied?

If you or your loved one is thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, think about this. People who are represented by a disability attorney like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who do not have a disability lawyer.

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