The liver is one of your body’s primary filtering organs and is in charge of ridding your body of waste. Your liver breaks down medications into required ingredients for your body’s wellness; it also produces amino acids, blood clots, proteins, and bile that aids digestion. However, when your liver experiences damage, liver disease is bound to occur.
Liver disease has been identified as one of the leading causes of death in humans and is often due to increased alcohol consumption. Some of the symptoms of liver disease include itching, muscle and weight loss, and kidney failure. Your liver gets to a critical stage when your scar tissue replaces the healthy tissue in your liver. Once the liver gets affected and doesn’t function as it should, it affects your other organs. These effects could be in the form of jaundice, swollen abdomen, and high blood pressure.
You should take good care of your liver because your quality of life can be affected once it’s affected. Below are common liver problems and how they impact your quality of life.
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Common Liver Problems
Liver Cancers
This type of cancer begins in the cells of the liver. Some symptoms are weight loss, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, jaundice, and abdominal swelling. However, these symptoms are not usually noticeable in the early stages. For early detection and intervention, you can consult at such clinics as Fibronostics, a healthcare company with several non-invasive solutions for treating liver diseases.
Bile Duct Cancer
Bile is a liquid that enhances food digestion, and bile duct cancer affects the tubes that transport bile from your liver to your small intestine. Although it’s uncommon, this cancer rarely affects people below age 50.
Liver Cell Adenoma
This is a tumor without cancer, and women who take birth control pills for too long are more prone to this tumor. Albeit uncommon, there are slight possibilities that this tumor can become cancer in the long run.
Inherited Diseases
The following are liver diseases that can only afflict you if they run in your family history.
● Hemochromatosis
Hemochromatosis, which is the extra iron gain in your heart, liver, and other bodily organs, is sure to happen when your body stores up the excess iron from your meals. The long-term result includes diabetes, liver and, or heart diseases.
● Hyperoxaluria
Your urine contains a chemical, oxalate, that, when produced in excess, causes liver failure. Because of a genetic mutation, your liver makes this chemical, but when it becomes too much, it can lead to kidney stones and kidney failure. When your kidneys fail, oxalosis, which happens when oxalate gathers in other body organs, is bound to happen.
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● Wilson’s Disease
This is the build-up of copper in your liver. The first symptoms of this disease often show between the ages of 6 and 35, but especially during your teenage years. Apart from causing liver damage, it might also cause nerve and psychiatric disorders.
● Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
With this liver disease, your liver produces a chemical that makes your lungs resistant to infections. However, this disease only occurs when your liver doesn’t follow the processes and recipe involved in this chemical production. The faulty chemical produced from this mix-up builds in your system and causes liver damage.
Immune System
Your immune system functions as a soldier that wards off invading viruses and bacteria, but your immune system can attack body parts like your liver when things go wrong. The following are liver diseases that can arise when this happens.
● Autoimmune Hepatitis
Girls and women are more prone to this than the male gender. When this happens, the liver gets inflamed and deteriorates. Other bodily organs might also get affected as a result.
● Primary Biliary Cholangitis
This attacks your bile ducts, which transport the bile that aids food digestion in your digestive system. When these ducts experience damage, the bile builds up in your liver and scars it. Like autoimmune hepatitis, women are more likely to get affected.
● Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
This disorder scars the bile ducts and may end up blocking them. The excess bile that builds in your liver makes it harder for the organ to function, which may lead to liver cancer or a liver transplant. Men, more than women, are more prone to this ailment.
Other Common Causes of Liver Problems
The following are some other factors that may cause liver disease and failure.
- Too much alcohol consumption can lead to cirrhosis. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and long-term hepatitis B and C can lead to cirrhosis.
- An overdose of drugs can damage your liver. Ensure that you follow the prescriptions given by a doctor and reduce your intake of acetaminophen.
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, occurs when your liver has extra fat. This could result in an inflamed or scarred liver that might lead to cirrhosis.
- Another factor that leads to liver damage is acute liver failure. This happens without prior notice and when your liver stops working within days or weeks. This could result from infections, wrong drug prescriptions, or acetaminophen overdose.
- Lastly, there’s cirrhosis, which is the buildup of liver scars. When liver scars replace the healthy parts of your liver, it becomes harder for the organ to function. In the long run, your liver fails to work as it should.
Want to Improve Your Quality of Life?
Liver diseases drastically reduce the quality of life, but one way to ensure it doesn’t get to a critical stage is to watch your lifestyle habits. If you notice changes in your body, you should reach out to a healthcare center that can help you fight the disease and improve your quality of life.