Liver damage can include anything from heredity (i.e., inherited from a family member), toxicity (i.e., due to chemicals or viruses) to a long-term disease (i.e., Cirrhosis) that can affect your liver for the rest of your life.
The liver helps the body digest food, absorb nutrients, and eliminate toxic substances. Without this abdominal organ you wouldn’t able to live.
Here are the some telling signs of a damaged liver…
Cirrhosis, the serious progression of liver disease, causes fluid build-up in the abdomen (a condition referred to as ascites), as levels of albumin and proteins in the blood and fluid are retained. This may actually make the patient appear pregnant. While ascites can be caused by numerous medical conditions, cirrhosis of the liver is the single most common. Sometimes, swelling can also take place in the ankles, as accumulated fluid is drawn down into the body by the forces of gravity.
While ascites can occur in sudden-onset or acute liver disease, it occurs much more frequently in chronic cases. It can be treated with diuretics and a reduced-sodium diet, and in severe cases, the fluid can be drained through a needle inserted into the stomach. However, ascites may not respond to frontline treatments, and if not, more drastic measures, such the insertion of a shunt or a liver transplant, may be necessary.
Discolored skin and eyes that take on a yellowish hue is symptomatic of liver damage. This yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes results as bilirubin (a bile pigment) builds-up in the blood and is unable to be eliminated as waste from the body. Jaundice also causes dark-colored urine and light-colored stools, and the high bilirubin levels it causes can also trigger difficult-to-relieve full-body itching. In extremely severe cases, jaundice can also cause a loss of brain function. In older patients, this is often misdiagnosed as a dementia-related disorder.
Treating liver disease-related jaundice depends on successfully addressing the underlying medical condition. While severely damaged livers will never fully regenerate, jaundice and its related symptoms will diminish in intensity as liver function improves. However, it’s important to remember that liver disease isn’t cured when jaundice disappears; patients who recover from severe liver damage must still be very careful to maintain better health.
Abdominal pain, particularly in the upper right corner of the abdomen, or to the lower right portion of the rib cage, is a telling sign of liver damage. This pain may or may not be accompanied by swelling in the abdomen, or ascites. Patients usually characterize it as a persistent throbbing or stabbing pain which can only be temporarily relieved by medications. In fact, improper use of medications can be part of the reason you’re experiencing abdominal pain symptoms.
It’s important to remember that liver disease can be caused by long-term overuse of certain over-the-counter and prescription medications, including acetaminophen and narcotic-acetaminophen combinations. These medications may cause upset stomach as a general side effect, and their damaging attributes can be amplified if you drink alcohol while using them. The upset stomach side effects can snowball over the long term as liver damage appears. Eventually, this pain will become severe enough for patients to seek medical attention.
Natural Therapeutic Center