How can primary biliary cholangitis cause steatorrhea?

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune liver disease that affects the small bile ducts in the liver. It can cause severe damage and scarring which can lead to steatorrhea – a condition where your body has difficulty digesting fat, leading to greasy, bulky stools.

When PBC impairs the normal flow of bile out of the liver it is known as cholestasis. Cholestasis leads to malabsorption of fats and fatty acids in food, resulting in fat remaining undigested within your gut when they reach your intestines. This excess undigested fat increases stool volume and makes it often appear pale-colored or floating on top of water when you go to the bathroom due to its oiliness.

This impaired absorption of lipids and other nutrients causes malnutrition by preventing their optimal digestion which results in steatorrhea – meaning there is too much fat present and more than 7g/day are expelled from one person’s stools during bowel movements. Furthermore, this condition can lead to dehydration as water also fails to be absorbed from such an oily stool; as well as electrolyte imbalances due to deficiencies caused by malabsorption.

In more severe cases symptoms may include tiredness, weight loss, abdominal pain or discomfort after eating fatty meals with easy fatigability known as asthenia due mostly felt during exercise but also at rest; dark urine (due accumulation of bilirubin), light-colored stools (due absence excretion through bile); itching skin or pruritus caused mainly by an increase concentration phosphatidylcholine inside your blood stream; jaundice; nausea etc).  Ultimately what all these symptoms have in common – aside from being associated with PBC - is that they result both directly or indirectly due an impaired ability for food components - including fats -to be digested normally within our bodies leading very clearly how primary biliary cholanhitis causes steatorrhea.