The “palm tree” sign is the “cardinal” sign that your fatty liver is deteriorating.

In the last stages of liver disease, transplantation is justified when the liver ceases to perform any of its intended functions. Unfortunately, it is often in these later stages that patients become aware of their poor health. When the liver goes from functional to non-functioning, many patients report the same symptom in the navel.

Cirrhosis is medically identified in two stages; compensated and decompensated phases.

In compensated cirrhosis, the liver almost copes with liver damage and is still able to perform important functions.

However, in the decompensated stage of cirrhosis, liver function is impaired, which requires liver transplantation of a new organ.

“Patients with cirrhosis may be asymptomatic or symptomatic depending on whether their cirrhosis is clinically compensated or decompensated,” explains the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

READ MORE: Digestive problems that may signal 75% of the liver is functional

“In compensated cirrhosis, patients are usually asymptomatic and their disease is found incidentally on laboratory tests, physical examination, or imaging.

“On the other hand, patients with decompensated cirrhosis usually have a wide range of signs and symptoms resulting from a combination of liver dysfunction and portal hypertension.”

According to the health authority, the diagnosis of ascites, jaundice, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding, or hepatocellular carcinoma in a patient with cirrhosis means a transition from a compensated to a decompensated phase of cirrhosis.

Many of the above symptoms are secondary to portal hypertension, which means higher than normal pressure in the portal vein, which carries blood from the digestive tract to the liver.

It is extremely important to stop the bleeding in time, otherwise the patient’s life may be at stake.

Another vascular complication associated with portal hypertension due to cirrhosis of the liver is bleeding from varicose veins.

According to the BMJ, approximately 30 to 50 percent of cirrhotic patients die “within six weeks of the first bleeding from a varicose vein.”

Fortunately, proven measures to detect liver disease have reduced the prevalence of jellyfish heads.