Liver

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Your liver does a lot of things that keep you healthy. It turns nutrients into chemicals your body needs. It filters out poisons. It helps turn food into energy. So when your Different things can cause serious liver conditions. You’ll want to know about the top causes. Infections Sometimes, the problem is that you have an infection that inflames your liver. Viral hepatitis is the most common cause, including: • Hepatitis A . Most people get it by eating or drinking something that’s tainted by fecal matter. You might not have any symptoms. It usually goes away by itself within 6 months without any long-term harm. • Hepatitis B. You get it from somebody else, such as through unprotected sex or taking drugs with shared needles. If it lasts longer than 6 months, it makes you more likely to get liver cancer or other diseases. • Hepatitis C comes from infected blood that gets into your blood. You might get it if you take drugs with shared needles or in connection with Immune System Problems Your • Autoimmune hepatitis inflames your liver. It can lead to other disorders and even liver failure. It strikes girls and women more often than boys or men. • Primary biliary cholangitis attacks tiny tubes in your liver called bile ducts. They carry bile, a chemical that helps you digest food. When the ducts are injured, the bile backs up inside your liver and scars it. Women come down with this more often than men. • Primary sclerosing cholangitis scars your bile ducts, and it can eventua...

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Compared with a normal liver (left), a fatty liver (right) appears enlarged and discolored. Tissue samples reveal fat deposits in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, while inflammation and advanced scarring (cirrhosis) are visible in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an umbrella term for a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol. As the name implies, the main characteristic of NAFLD is too much fat stored in liver cells. NAFLD is increasingly common around the world, especially in Western nations. In the United States, it is the most common form of chronic liver disease, affecting about one-quarter of the population. Some individuals with NAFLD can develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an aggressive form of fatty liver disease, which is marked by liver inflammation and may progress to advanced scarring (cirrhosis) and liver failure. This damage is similar to the damage caused by heavy alcohol use. The liver The liver is your largest internal organ. About the size of a football, it's located mainly in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath the diaphragm and above your stomach. NAFLD usually causes no signs and symptoms. When it does, they may include: • Fatigue • Pain or discomfort in the upper right abdomen Possible signs and symptoms of NASH and advanced scarring (cirrhosis) include: • Abdominal swelling (ascites) • Enlarged blood vessels just beneath ...

What are some common liver disease symptoms? When diagnosing liver disease, the doctor looks at the patient's symptoms and conducts a physical examination. In addition, the doctor may request a Some common liver disease symptoms include the following, each of which are described briefly below: • Jaundice. A yellowing of the skin and eyes. • Cholestasis • Liver enlargement • Portal hypertension • Esophageal varices • Ascites. A fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity. • Liver encephalopathy • Liver failure What is jaundice? Jaundice is a yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes due to abnormally high levels of bilirubin (bile pigment) in the bloodstream. Urine is usually dark because of the bilirubin excreted through the kidneys. High levels of bilirubin may be attributed to inflammation, or other abnormalities of the liver cells, or blockage of the bile ducts. Sometimes, jaundice is caused by the breakdown of a large number of red blood cells, which can occur in newborns. Jaundice is usually the first sign, and sometimes the only sign, of liver disease. What is cholestasis? Cholestasis means any condition in which bile flow is reduced or stopped. "Chole" refers to bile and "stasis" means "not moving." Bile flow may be blocked inside the liver, outside the liver, or in both places. Symptoms may include: • Jaundice • Dark urine • Pale stool • Easy bleeding • Itching • Ascites • Chills • Pain from the biliary tract or pancreas • Enlarged gallbladder Some causes o...

The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. It removes toxins from the body’s blood supply, maintains healthy blood sugar levels, regulates blood clotting, and performs hundreds of other vital functions. It is located beneath the rib cage in the right upper abdomen. Key Facts • The liver filters all of the blood in the body and breaks down poisonous substances, such as alcohol and drugs. • The liver also produces bile, a fluid that helps digest fats and carry away waste. • The liver consists of four lobes, which are each made up of eight sections and thousands of lobules (or small lobes). Functions of the Liver The liver is an essential organ of the body that performs over 500 vital functions. These include removing waste products and foreign substances from the bloodstream, regulating blood sugar levels, and creating essential nutrients. Here are some of its most important functions: • Albumin Production: Albumin is a protein that keeps fluids in the bloodstream from leaking into surrounding tissue. It also carries hormones, vitamins, and enzymes through the body. • Bile Production: Bile is a fluid that is critical to the digestion and absorption of fats in the small intestine. • Filters Blood: All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver, which removes toxins, byproducts, and other harmful substances. • Regulates Amino Acids: The production of proteins depend on amino acids. The liver makes sure amino acid levels in the bloodstream rema...

[Music playing] Ask Mayo Clinic: Cirrhosis Sumera I. Ilyas, M.B.B.S., Transplant Hepatologist, Mayo Clinic Hi, I'm Dr. Sumera Ilyas, a transplant hepatologist at Mayo Clinic, and I'm here to answer some of the important questions you may have about cirrhosis. Can I still drink alcohol with liver disease? No amount of alcohol is considered safe in patients with cirrhosis. They should avoid all alcohol use. Are pain medications safe to take with liver disease? Well, some pain medications are safe to take in certain doses, and some are not. For instance, nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen, they should be avoided in patients with cirrhosis, because when the liver is scarred, there's a greater chance of hurting the kidneys with these types of medications. Narcotics such as oxycodone are not a good idea either as they can be quite problematic with certain complications of cirrhosis. Acetaminophen, on the other hand, is safe to take, but at smaller doses. For pain relief in cirrhosis, we recommend taking acetaminophen up to two grams a day. So that's four extra strength tablets within a 24-hour period. How can diet help manage my cirrhosis? So it's important to eat an overall healthy diet that is balanced and full of fruits and vegetables. It's important to have protein intake, and that can be from lean sources of protein such as beans or lentils, and salt restriction is also very important. Limit the amount of salt in your diet to less than two ...

Anatomy of the liver The liver is located in the upper right-hand portion of the abdominal cavity, beneath the diaphragm, and on top of the stomach, right kidney, and intestines. Shaped like a cone, the liver is a dark reddish-brown organ that weighs about 3 pounds. There are 2 distinct sources that supply blood to the liver, including the following: • Oxygenated blood flows in from the hepatic artery • Nutrient-rich blood flows in from the hepatic portal vein The liver holds about one pint (13%) of the body's blood supply at any given moment. The liver consists of2 main lobes. Both are made up of8 segments that consist of 1,000 lobules (small lobes). These lobules are connected to small ducts (tubes) that connect with larger ducts to form the common hepatic duct. The common hepatic duct transports the bile made by the liver cells to the gallbladder and duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) via the common bile duct. Functions of the liver The liver regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes a product called bile. This helps carry away waste products from the liver. All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The liver processes this blood and breaks down, balances, and creates the nutrients and also metabolizes drugs into forms that are easier to use for the rest of the bodyor that are nontoxic. More than 500 vital functions have been identified with the liver. Some of the more well-known functions include the followi...

Liver damage typically has four stages, beginning with inflammation and progressing all the way to cirrosis and end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Liver disease refers to any condition that inflames or damages your liver. Damage to your liver can accumulate through several stages of liver disease. Each stage has a cumulative effect on your liver’s ability to function properly. The four stages of liver damage or disease are: • inflammation • fibrosis • cirrhosis • end-stage liver disease (ESLD) Learn more about liver damage and disease. Damage from liver disease can accrue throughout several stages. With each stage, your liver’s ability to function is increasingly affected. Inflammation In this early stage, your liver becomes Fibrosis The scar tissue that’s generated in this stage takes the place of healthy liver tissue, but it can’t perform the same functions. This can start to affect your liver’s ability to function optimally. Liver fibrosis can be hard to detect because symptoms aren’t often present. Cirrhosis In While symptoms may not have been present in earlier stages, you may begin to experience symptoms of liver disease. End-stage liver disease (ESLD) ESLD is an umbrella term that can be used to describe conditions such as: • • • chronic liver failure At this stage, liver function has deteriorated dramatically. ESLD is associated with complications such as Liver failure can occur due to liver damage caused by liver disease. However, it’s not inevitable that liver damag...

Enlarged liver An enlarged liver can have many possible causes. An enlarged liver is one that's bigger than normal. The medical term is hepatomegaly (hep-uh-toe-MEG-uh-le). Rather than a disease, an enlarged liver is a sign of an underlying problem, such as liver disease, congestive heart failure or cancer. Treatment involves identifying and controlling the cause of the condition. Symptoms An enlarged liver might not cause symptoms. When enlarged liver results from liver disease, it might be accompanied by: • Abdominal pain • Fatigue • Nausea and vomiting • Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice) When to see a doctor Make an appointment with your doctor if you have symptoms that worry you. Causes The liver is a large, football-shaped organ found in the upper right portion of your abdomen. The size of the liver varies with age, sex and body size. Many conditions can cause it to enlarge, including: Liver diseases • Cirrhosis • Hepatitis caused by a virus — including hepatitis A, B and C — or caused by infectious mononucleosis • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease • Alcoholic fatty liver disease • A disorder that causes abnormal protein to accumulate in your liver (amyloidosis) • A genetic disorder that causes copper to accumulate in your liver (Wilson's disease) • A disorder that causes iron to accumulate in your liver (hemachromatosis) • A disorder that causes fatty substances to accumulate in your liver (Gaucher's disease) • Fluid-filled pockets in the liv...