What chronic disease is characterized by degeneration of liver tissue?

The correct answer is cirrhosis, which is a chronic disease marked by the progressive degeneration and scarring of liver tissue. This occurs as a result of long-term damage to the liver, often caused by factors such as chronic alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis, or fatty liver disease. As the liver suffers continued injury, normal liver cells die and are replaced with scar tissue, leading to compromised liver function. This condition can greatly affect the liver's ability to detoxify the blood, produce vital proteins, and regulate various metabolic processes.

Hepatitis, on the other hand, refers to inflammation of the liver, which can be acute or chronic, but it does not specifically describe the degenerative scarring process that defines cirrhosis. Similarly, cirrhotic asthma and jaundice are not chronic diseases associated with liver degeneration. Cirrhotic asthma is not a medical diagnosis and jaundice is a symptom that can result from various liver conditions, including cirrhosis, but it does not represent the disease itself. This clarifies why cirrhosis is the precise term for the degeneration of liver tissue.