According to the US National Institute of Health, 3,66,000 people in India died due to liver disease in 2015. Generally, in case of liver disease, its symptoms are not visible, due to which timely treatment is not available and it proves to be fatal.
If liver disease is detected at the right time, it can be treated. That’s why it becomes necessary to know the symptoms of liver disease. Let us see in this article how liver disease occurs, what are its symptoms and what are its treatments.
What is Liver?
Liver is such an organ of our body that does all the necessary work so that our body remains healthy. It is attached just below the lungs on the right side of the abdomen. Liver works to control almost all the chemicals of the body.
Liver makes bile which plays a major role in digesting fat. Regulates blood chemicals coming from kidney and stomach. It also manufactures proteins prescribed for the blood plasma. From cleaning our blood to injury, it also controls the formation of blood clots.
Apart from this, the liver also performs many other important functions; Only then our body remains healthy. That’s why it is very important for the liver to be healthy.
Causes of Liver Damage
There can be many reasons for liver damage. Sometimes it becomes difficult to find out the cause of liver disease. The main causes of liver damage are as follows:
1. Infection: Sometimes a virus or parasite can cause an infection in our liver, which can cause inflammation in the liver and make it difficult to function. Hepatitis A, B and C viruses cause frequent liver infections.
2.Autoimmune diseases: Some people have autoimmune diseases. In this disease, the body’s immune system tries to destroy the organs, which can also cause liver failure. For example, in autoimmune hepatitis, the immune system attacks the liver, and in primary biliary cholangitis, the immune system attacks the bile ducts.
3. Genetic reasons: Sometimes some congenital diseases also start damaging the liver, such as hemochromatosis (hereditary disease due to which iron accumulates in the liver and other organs) and Wilson’s disease (hereditary disease due to which copper accumulates in the liver and other organs) goes)
4. Causes of Cancer: When cancer cells start forming in the liver, they cause fatal damage to the liver.
5. Other reasons: Due to excessive consumption of alcohol, due to some medicines, liver gets damaged due to increase in fat in the liver.
Types of Liver Diseases
There can be many types of liver diseases but some of the main types are as follows:
1. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver: When excess fat accumulates in the liver, it is called fatty liver disease. This disease is often caused by wrong eating habits and obesity.
2. Alcoholic Fatty Liver: This disease is often caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. Consumption of alcohol for many years leads to inflammation of the liver.
3. Hepatitis A: This disease is often caused by contaminated water, food or contact with an infected person.
4. Hepatitis B: This disease is often spread through unprotected sex, from pregnant mother to child, through the blood of an infected person. Infection can be prevented if a person infected with hepatitis B is vaccinated.
5. Hepatitis C: This disease is often caused by an infected injection. This causes inflammation in the liver. Due to this, a disease like liver cirrhosis can occur. There is currently no vaccine available for hepatitis C.
6. Liver Cirrhosis: Liver cirrhosis is caused by hepatitis infection or long-term alcohol consumption. This condition cannot be cured, but liver damage can be prevented from progressing.
7. Hemochromatosis: It is a type of disorder in which the amount of iron increases in many organs like heart, liver, pancreas, pituitary gland. In such a situation, the chances of getting diseases like liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis are very high.
8. Liver Cancer: When there is unnecessary formation of cells in the liver which are not needed by the liver, then it is called liver cancer.
Symptoms of Liver Damage
In many cases the liver continues to deteriorate but it is not detected. Its symptoms appear when the liver has become very bad. These symptoms can be seen when the liver is damaged:
1. loss of appetite
2. sudden weight loss
3. feeling tired all the time
4. pale stool color
5. nausea and vomiting
6. Itchy skin of abdomen, back, arms and legs
7. bruising and bleeding easily
8. swollen feet or ankles
9. feeling bloated
10. abdominal pain
11. dark colored urine
Risk Factors for Liver Damage
Although many infectious reasons can lead to liver infection and liver damage, but some people are at risk of liver damage due to other reasons as well. The following people are prone to liver damage:
1. heavy drinkers
2. being fat
3. type 2 diabetes
4. having unprotected sex
5. for genetic reasons
6. Exposure to certain chemicals (such as carbon tetrachloride and vinyl chloride) can also cause liver damage.
Liver diagnosis
If your body shows symptoms of liver damage, then contact the doctor and get your test done. Doctors can diagnose liver disease based on your symptoms as follows:
1. Liver function test: This test measures the levels of proteins, liver enzymes, and bilirubin in the blood.
Also Read : Cost of Liver Function Test
2. Imaging tests: Ultrasound, CT scan or MRI scan tests can reveal liver damage.
3. Liver biopsy: A small piece of liver tissue is taken during a liver biopsy and sent to a lab for analysis. The patient frequently receives a mild anaesthetic before having a liver biopsy so that they won’t experience any pain.
Liver Damage Treatment
Liver treatment depends on its diagnosis. The disease is detected after the diagnosis of the liver. Doctors treat you according to the disease in the liver. Different treatments are done for different diseases. Some of the main diseases occurring in the liver are treated as follows:
Treatment of Alcoholic Fatty Liver: In this disease, first of all doctors recommend complete abstinence from alcohol. Apart from this, some steroids are given. If non-alcoholic fatty liver becomes more severe, a liver transplant may also be required.
1.Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver: There is no standard treatment for this disease. In this situation, the doctor can give some medicines to reduce your symptoms. In this disease, doctors often recommend reducing obesity.
2.Treatment in Hepatitis: The first thing to do when infected with Hepatitis A and B is vaccination. However, there is no vaccine for Hepatitis C and some medicines are given for it. If these infections are prolonged and lead to liver cirrhosis or liver cancer, a liver transplant may be required.
3.Treatment of liver cirrhosis: Liver cirrhosis is a severe case of liver damage that cannot be reversed. Liver cirrhosis can be prevented from progressing with home remedies such as exercise, abstinence from alcohol, a healthy diet and with the help of certain medicines.
4.Treatment in Liver Cancer: There are many options for the treatment of liver cancer such as surgery, liver transplant, ablation, radiation therapy and chemotherapy etc. Doctors treat liver cancer according to the extent of damage to your liver.
Read Also : Liver Cancer Symptoms
Conclusion
In this article, we learned that liver is an important part of our body and it performs many special functions. Due to wrong lifestyle and some diseases, liver failure can occur, the symptoms of which appear in a few weeks or months. Doctors diagnose liver by taking into account the symptoms and start appropriate treatment when the disease is detected.
It is now absolutely easy to get direct consultation from experts in Liver or any disease. Glamylo Health is a platform where you can get advice related to your disease directly from experts from the comfort of your home. Apart from this, you can take the help of Glamylo Health to find the best hospital and the best doctor. There are 500+ best hospitals and 300+ Expert doctors on the Glamylo Health
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How to know if the liver gets damaged?
Our liver gets damaged due to many reasons like some virus, food and lifestyle, excessive consumption of alcohol, etc. Initially, no symptoms are often seen due to liver damage, so most of the patients do not get to know about liver damage. If the liver malfunctions more than normal, then these symptoms can be seen: Yellowing of the skin and eyes, which we call jaundice or jaundice, swelling and pain in the abdomen, pain in the feet and heels, itching in the body, yellow stool. Being tired all the time, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, formation of wound after injury anywhere. You should go to the doctor if these symptoms appear. After the examination by the doctor, you will really know whether there is any defect in your liver or not. According to this, the doctor will advise you the appropriate treatment.
Q2. What is the problem of swelling on the liver?
Usually swelling in the liver is caused by hepatitis or fat accumulation, but sometimes swelling in the liver can also be a sign of dangerous diseases such as heart failure or cancer. That’s why a doctor must be consulted if there is swelling in the liver. Generally, these problems occur due to inflammation of the liver, feeling of gas or heaviness in the stomach, pain in the right and upper part of the stomach, tiredness of the body, loss of appetite or nausea, pruritis i.e. itching in the skin.
Q3. What are the symptoms of liver weakness?
Weakness in the liver comes due to many reasons like hepatitis infection, excessive consumption of alcohol, high fat diet, genetic factors, etc. Due to weakness of the liver, the body remains tired, itching in the body, loss of appetite, eyes and skin turn yellow, rapid loss of body weight, swelling of the legs and abdomen, and increased urination. The color becomes darker. On the appearance of all these symptoms, the doctor should be contacted as soon as possible and the examination should be done.
Q4. How is liver disease caused?
Liver is such a part of the body that if it is not healthy, the whole body falls ill. Liver disease occurs due to many reasons, some of the main reasons are as follows: due to viruses such as hepatitis A, B, C, genetic factors, autoimmune diseases, excessive consumption of alcohol, obesity, diet and Poor lifestyle, due to side effects of certain medicines or treatments.
Q5. When does the liver get damaged?
Often there are no symptoms of liver failure. When the liver has trouble working due to malfunction, then some symptoms start appearing like jaundice, pain in the right side of the abdomen, etc. Liver damage starts due to the following reasons: due to infection, genetic reasons, liver failure due to cancer, lifestyle and food habits.
Q6. What should be eaten to cure the liver?
In general, all green leafy vegetables and fruits are beneficial for keeping the liver healthy. In particular, the following food items can be taken to keep the liver healthy: grapes, prickly pears, beetroot, nuts, walnuts, turmeric, coffee and tea. Clean water should be drunk a lot to keep the liver healthy.
Q7. What to do in case of liver damage?
There can be many reasons for liver damage like hepatitis infection, fatty diet, excessive consumption of alcohol etc. You do not see the symptoms in the initial stage of liver damage, but when the work of the liver starts getting tied, then its symptoms start appearing. In case of liver failure, your skin becomes itchy, the body remains tired, sudden weight loss, swelling of the abdomen and legs, jaundice (jaundice) and pain on the right side of the abdomen may also occur. Is. If you see all these symptoms then you should take the following steps:
First of all you should visit the nearest liver or stomach specialist (Gastrologist or Hepatologist).
There the doctor does liver biopsy to check your stomach and liver, which includes blood test, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI test.
In the diagnosis of liver whether the liver is bad or not and what is the disease; It is known.
Doctors start treatment after finding out which disease the liver is suffering from.
Along with the treatment, the doctors give advice about taking some precautions and eating habits. Talking about precautions, the doctor may advise you to exercise, instruct you not to take alcohol and avoid fatty food. If we talk about food, then you can ask to take coffee, beetroot and carrot juice and green leafy vegetables
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