New research suggests some patients with dementia may have liver disease that’s causing cognitive decline

Study looked at data on 177,422 veterans who had been diagnosed with dementia.

Up to 10% of those patients may have liver disease advanced enough to cause scarring (cirrhosis) Hepatic encephalopathy can cause signs and symptoms of dementia.

If patients are not diagnosed correctly, they won’t know that it could be possible to reverse the cognitive decline by treating the underlying liver disease.

While it’s a serious condition, hepatic encephalopathy is treatable and can even be reversible.

Lactulose syrup can be taken once or twice a day and binds to toxins so they can clear out of the body in the stool.

Rifaximin is an antibiotic pill that works on the gut microbiome to potentially prevent the condition.