Liver Disease - What To Expect

Symptoms of a liver disease may vary from patient to patient. Nausea or vomiting, loss of appetite, tendency to bruise easily and diarrhea are some of the other common symptoms of liver disease. Sometimes, there are no symptoms at all. In that case, imaging tests and liver damage tests can be conducted to check for liver damage.

The viruses that cause liver damage can spread through blood or semen, other infected person, or contaminated food or water. The most common types of virus-infected liver diseases are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. A weak immune system also attracts various infections that can affect the liver. Genetic liver diseases are also common. An abnormal gene inherited from any of the parents can also cause damage to the liver.

Alcohol is a major reason behind 25 percent increase in deaths from a liver disease over the last decade. However, alcohol-related liver diseases can be prevented if a person understands the impact of excessive alcohol drinking on the liver and take steps to control the amount of alcohol he or she drinks.

Fortunately, a liver transplant is a procedure that is often successful in the case of end-stage liver failure. One cannot live without a liver that works. Doctors do liver transplant when other treatment cannot keep a damaged liver working. During a liver transplantation, the doctor removes the diseased liver and replaces it with healthy one retrieved from a donor. After the liver transplant, the patient must take drugs for the rest of his life to prevent his or her body from rejecting the new liver.