Liver disease symptoms including itchy skin, cirrhosis signs and when NHS experts say you should speak to GP

The liver is a powerful organ which has many important functions. One of the most important things the liver does is to filter toxins out of your blood.

However, too many toxins can overwhelm your liver’s resources and ability to function. Liver disease often refers to chronic conditions that do progressive damage to your liver over time.

There are various types of liver disease with various causes. This includes alcohol-related liver disease, hepatitis, haemochromatosis and primary biliary cholangitis.

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Symptoms of liver disease

According to the NHS, most types of liver disease don't cause any symptoms in the early stages. Therefore, it means that once you start to get symptoms of liver disease, your liver is already damaged and scarred.

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

If you think you might have liver disease or cirrhosis, you should contact your GP immediately.

Causes of liver disease

There are three main causes of liver disease. These are:

• Obesity

• Undiagnosed hepatitis infection

• Alcohol misuse

Treatment

Healthy lifestyle changes can help with some types of liver disease. This may include not drinking alcohol. However, some types of liver disease may need to be treated with medicine.

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

You can also prevent liver disease from occurring through preventative measures. Eating healthily and not drinking too much alcohol can help reduce your risk of getting many types of liver disease.

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