Aug 11, 2026 · 5 min · 9 segments
Thank you to Salix for their support on this FAQ video module. In this FAQ video module, Natalie Oliver, PA-C, discusses how healthcare professionals can counsel patients and caregivers about overt…
Natalie OliverGuest
So when seeing a patient with cirrhosis, it's so important to ask the right questions and to identify symptoms and physical exam findings that can lead to early diagnosis or potentially even preventing a decompensating event.
If our patients and their loved ones don't know which symptoms to look out for or which are concerning, it can be really difficult.
explaining that one of the liver's main jobs is to filter toxins out of the blood.
And with cirrhosis and portal hypertension, that does not happen as effectively.
Now, confusion or neurocognitive symptoms from hepatic encephalopathy can look very different for different patients.
So on one hand, it can be more severe with disorientation, slurred speech, forgetting even the names of your loved ones, or it can be more subtle, such as an increase in fatigue, irritability, struggling to find the right words you want to say, difficulty concentrating.
And I will tell you, a lot of times those subtle symptoms do not come up unless you ask.
But before the visit's over, I also redirect this question to the spouse, the child, the caregiver, because oftentimes they are the first to realize a change in or onset of these symptoms.
So when seeing a patient with cirrhosis, it's so important to ask the right questions and to identify symptoms and physical exam findings that can lead to early diagnosis or potentially even preventing a decompensating event.
If our patients and their loved ones don't know which symptoms to look out for or which are concerning, it can be really difficult.
explaining that one of the liver's main jobs is to filter toxins out of the blood.
And with cirrhosis and portal hypertension, that does not happen as effectively.
Now, confusion or neurocognitive symptoms from hepatic encephalopathy can look very different for different patients.
So on one hand, it can be more severe with disorientation, slurred speech, forgetting even the names of your loved ones, or it can be more subtle, such as an increase in fatigue, irritability, struggling to find the right words you want to say, difficulty concentrating.
And I will tell you, a lot of times those subtle symptoms do not come up unless you ask.
But before the visit's over, I also redirect this question to the spouse, the child, the caregiver, because oftentimes they are the first to realize a change in or onset of these symptoms.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
