Liver Disease

There are many different types of liver disease. You can help prevent some of them by maintaining a healthy weight and staying within the recommended alcohol limits, if you drink.

Types of liver disease

There are several types of liver disease, which can have different causes.

Symptoms of liver disease

Most types of liver disease do not cause any symptoms in the early stages.

Once you start to get symptoms of liver disease, your liver is already damaged and scarred. This is known as cirrhosis.

Symptoms of cirrhosis include:

• feeling very tired and weak all the time
• loss of appetite - which may lead to weight loss
• loss of sex drive (libido)
• yellow skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)
• itchy skin
• feeling or being sick

See a GP if:

If you or your child has been diagnosed with liver disease, Liver UK or Children's Liver Disease Foundation can also offer advice and support.

Treatment for liver disease

Treatment for liver disease depends on the type you have and how severe it is.

Healthy lifestyle changes can help with some types of liver disease. For example, alcohol-related liver disease may improve if you stop drinking alcohol.

Some types of liver disease (such as certain types of hepatitis) may need to be treated with medicine.

If you have severe liver damage and scarring (cirrhosis), you may need a liver transplant.

How to prevent liver disease

The 3 main causes of liver disease are:

• obesity
• an undiagnosed hepatitis infection
• alcohol misuse, including alcohol-use disorder

You can reduce your risk of many types of liver disease with some simple lifestyle changes such as:

• trying to maintain a healthy weight
• not drinking too much alcohol

Vaccines are available for hepatitis A and hepatitis B. These are recommended if you're at risk.

Important

You do not have to drink an excessive amount of alcohol to risk damaging your health. Regularly drinking just over the recommended levels can be harmful.

More information

• Use the BMI healthy weight calculator to find out your body mass index (BMI)
• Start the NHS weight loss plan
• Read about cutting down on alcohol
• Find out who should have the hepatitis A vaccine and who should have the hepatitis B vaccine

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