TABLE 2.

Medications and therapies used to treat HE

Therapy	How it works	Goal
Lactulose	Laxative (causes frequent bowel movements that make you “poop out” the ammonia from your body)	First line to treat HE
		Goal is to have 3–4 loose bowel movements per day
		May cause bloating
Rifaximin	Antibiotic not absorbed from the gut	Use with lactulose
		Take one tablet twice a day
Nutrition	High‐calorie and ‐protein meals to maintain muscle	Goal is to build muscle, which helps process ammonia, because many patients with cirrhosis lose muscle