Towards a healthy liver

October 2007     View PDF     En español

Know the symptoms and causes

Your liver can continue to do its job even when there’s damage being done. So it’s important to know the possible symptoms of liver disease. Report them to your doctor as soon as possible. Many cases of liver disease can be corrected if found early and treated.

Signs of liver disease may not appear in everyone. When they are present, symptoms can include fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pain, changes in memory or behavior, and swelling and prolonged itching of the skin. More severe symptoms include yellowish coloring of the skin or eyes (jaundice), dark urine and changes in stool.

Inflammation in the liver, called hepatitis, upsets how well your liver works. It also refers to conditions of the liver caused by viruses, bacteria, alcohol, legal and illegal drugs, among others. Left untreated, hepatitis can lead to liver scarring, cancer, failure, transplant and even death. For these reasons it’s important to help prevent disease in the first place.