Liver disease

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Liver disease may not cause symptoms in the early stages. Tiredness, loss of appetite and yellow skin (jaundice) can happen later on.

How liver disease is treated depends on the type you have. Some types can get better with lifestyle changes, while some may need medicines or surgery.

You can reduce your risk of getting liver disease by maintaining a healthy weight and not drinking too much alcohol.