Life

Common Signs And Symptoms Of Liver Damage

Like & Follow Us On Facebook!

Huffpost

Your liver is one of the key and largest organs in the body, and it’s responsible for many metabolic functions. It is essential for digesting food, purifying blood, detoxifying chemicals and drugs, producing bile, producing proteins needed for blood clotting, metabolizing fats and carbohydrates, storing glucose, vitamins and minerals, and many other vital functions. It’s also a remarkable organ, with an ability to regenerate after surgical removal of a portion of it or after injuries that destroy parts of it. However, repeated damage to your liver can lead to inflammation, scarring (cirrhosis), and liver disease.
Liver disease, also referred to as hepatic disease, is a broad term that covers all potential problems that lead to liver failure, a life-threatening condition that prevents the liver from performing its many critical roles. Liver disease can be inherited, but it can also be caused by a number of factors that damage the liver, including alcohol abuse, a high-fat diet, obesity, genetics, and infections. Usually, more than 75% of the liver needs to be affected before there’s a decrease in function, but early detection of symptoms and immediate treatment may give your liver time to heal and regenerate.
Read on to find out the common signs of liver disease, along with more specific symptoms depending on the underlying condition.

Common Symptoms Of Liver Damage

Many of the symptoms associated with liver damage vary depending on the exact type of liver disease at hand. However, there are some general signs and symptoms that often indicate the presence of a liver issue. These symptoms include jaundice, intense itching, abdominal pain, swelling in the abdomen (ascites), swelling in the legs and ankles (edema), dark urine, pale stool, black tarry stool or black specks in the stool, blood in the stool, chronic fatigue, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, tendency to bruise easily, reddening of the skin on the palms, and spider angiomas.
However, since there is a wide range of liver disease, symptoms specific to an illness only become noticeable in advanced stages of the disease. For example, if you have gallstones associated with liver failure, you may experience abdominal pain and vomiting.

You may also like