Without bile pigment in the stools. Causes stools to be pale in color.

Actigall (Ursodiol) is a drug used to treat some biliary disorders. The drug itself is a bile acid and after being absorbed it is excreted into bile and can result in the dissolution of certain types of gall stones that are composed predominantly of cholesterol. It is also recommended to treat primary biliary cirrhosis and appears to slow the progression of this disease. It is also used in some cases to treat biliary atresia, but there is currently insufficient evidence that it is effective in these patients.

The term alcoholic is generally defined as someone who is addicted to alcohol. Addiction in turn is defined as a maladaptive pattern of drinking that leads to significant personal problems as defined by 3 or more of the following in the same 12 month period:

Urea and ammonia are two by-products of the metabolism (usage and break-down) of proteins. They are handled and eliminated via very sophisticated mechanisms within liver cells. In the case of liver damage, be it acute or chronic (long-lasting with slow progress), the ammonia accumulates to become toxic, particularly to the brain which swells in its presence.

A technical term meaning jaundice-free.

Ascites is fluid within the abdomen. It can occur for a variety of reasons including liver disease, kidney disease, heart failure, and malnutrition. The starving children in pictures of famine stricken areas have large swollen abdomens due to ascites that is from malnutrition. Their diet contains too little protein which leads to abnormally low amounts of a protein in the blood called “albumin.”

A congenital (developmental) malformation of the biliary tract where the biliary ductules outside the liver do not form to collect the bile from the liver cells to bring it out into the intestine. According to the degree or severity of the defect, there may be different types which usually involve the gallbladder.

Bilirubin is a chemical breakdown product of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a substance in red blood cells that grabs onto oxygen in the lungs and carries it to the tissues in the body where it releases it. When red blood cells wear out they are trapped in the spleen and destroyed, releasing bilirubin into the blood. This type of bilirubin is called unconjugated. The liver takes the bilirubin out of the blood and conjugates it by attaching a portion of another molecule to the bilirubin molecule. Conjugated bilirubin can then be excreted in bile by the liver. The bile then goes through the bile duct into the intestine. Eventually the bile winds up exiting the body in feces. Bile gives the feces its brown color. If the liver is not producing bile or if the bile duct is blocked, the color of feces is tan.

A biopsy is whenever tissue is removed from an organ or tissue in order to tell something about the organ or tissue. There are many types of biopsies