What is liver cirrhosis? According to the medical dictionary, liver cirrhosis is when scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue. This disease changes the structure of the liver and the blood vessels that nourish it. It reduces the liver's ability to make proteins and process hormones, nutrients, drugs, and poisons. Cirrhosis is a disease that worsens over time and can become life-threatening. This serious disease is ranked as the ninth leading cause of death in the United States and is the third most common cause of death for adults between 45 and 65 years of age. It occurs in more than fifty percent of malnourished chronic alcoholics. Unfortunately it kills around 35,000 people a year. In other countries such as Africa and Asia, death from cirrhosis is usually caused by hepatitis B. The main cause of liver cirrhosis in the United States is long-term alcoholism. Men respond differently to alcohol than women. In women, one or two drinks a day can cause liver damage. Men can have two to five drinks a day and be fine. One drink a day can scar the liver. So like everything else in life, it varies, it might affect everyone differently. The individual who drinks alcohol daily, or more often than others, has a greater risk of developing cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis has also been linked to serious liver infections such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C. HIV-positive patients have died from developing cirrhosis through the hepatitis virus. Other causes of cirrhosis result from reactions to prescription medications, liver injury, exposure to toxic substances, and episodes of heart failure with liver congestion. Oct... middle of paper......K, Florentyna. “Life expectancy of cirrhosis.” Living with liver disease. Spruz Social Websites, 05/21/2010. Network. November 4, 2011. “Cirrhosis Treatment Overview.” WebMD. WebMd LLC, August 10, 2010. Network. November 4, 2011. .Lupo, David. "Cirrhosis." Medscape Reference. WebMd LLC, September 22, 2011. Web. November 4, 2011. “Cirrhosis.” The free Farlex dictionary. Farlex, Inc., 2011. Web. 4 November 2011. .Blackwell, Wiley. “Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis had a high prevalence of complications at diagnosis.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily LLC, April 27, 2010. Network. November 4 2011. .