The liver plays an important role in digesting food and protecting the body from toxic substances. However, there are times when liver function is disturbed and does not function properly, causing liver disease or heart disease.
There are various types of diseases or disorders of the liver. Some of them must be monitored cautiously because they can cause serious health problems. Here is the list and some explanation:
Hepatitis is marked by inflammation of the liver. This disease is usually caused by a viral infection, but it can also be caused by taking certain medications, drinking too much alcohol, or suffering from an autoimmune disease.
Symptoms of hepatitis generally include fever, abdominal pain in the upper right, loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, yellowing of the skin and eyes, and dark-colored urine.
If not treated properly, hepatitis can lead to complications such as liver failure, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer. Therefore, it is important to immediately consult a doctor if you experience the symptoms mentioned above.
Cirrhosis is a liver disease caused by liver damage in the long term, resulting in the formation of scar tissue in the liver. At the beginning of suffering from this disease, you may not feel any symptoms.
Usually, the symptoms of cirrhosis appear after the liver damage has gotten worse. Symptoms include fatigue, abdominal pain, drastic weight loss, no appetite, weight loss, and red palms.
If not treated immediately, cirrhosis can get worse. Symptoms that appear are also getting worse, ranging from vomiting blood, itchy skin, dark-colored feces, easy bruising, abdominal enlargement, and yellowing of the body.
A liver abscess is a buildup of pus in the liver due to infection with bacteria or protozoan parasites. Although rare, fungal infections can also cause abscesses in the liver.
Although it can be caused by various types of infection, the symptoms are generally similar, namely high fever, upper right abdominal pain, chills, vomiting, drastic weight loss, jaundice, dark urine, diarrhea, and grayish feces.
Patients with liver abscesses usually require inpatient treatment in a hospital because of the risk of developing sepsis, which is an advanced complication of infection.
Fatty liver or hepatic steatosis occurs when the liver stores too much fat. This condition can increase the risk of impaired liver function, even damage to liver cells.
Several things can increase a person’s risk of developing fat accumulation, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels, the effects of excessive alcohol consumption, or the consumption of certain drugs, such as corticosteroids in the long term.
Generally, fatty liver can be overcome with lifestyle changes to become healthier. However, if the fatty liver has caused liver cell damage, such as liver failure or cirrhosis, special treatment is necessary.
The next liver disease to watch out for is liver cancer. This disease occurs when cells in the liver undergo mutations so that cells grow abnormally and uncontrollably.
The cause of liver cancer is not known with certainty. However, the risk of liver cancer increases in people with fatty liver, cirrhosis, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and the habit of drinking excessive alcohol.
The initial symptoms of liver cancer are similar to the symptoms of other diseases, such as fatigue, fever, abdominal pain in the upper right, no appetite, drastic weight loss, yellowing of the skin and eyes, itching all over the body, and swollen stomach.
Since all the symptoms of liver disease mentioned above are almost the same, to diagnose the type of liver disease, the doctor will conduct a thorough examination and recommend several supporting tests, such as blood tests, liver function tests, abdominal ultrasound, or liver biopsy, to determine what treatment is appropriate.
So that the liver is always free from disease, do prevention of the above diseases by implementing a healthy lifestyle, such as avoiding the consumption of fatty foods, stopping consuming alcoholic beverages and smoking, and maintaining ideal body weight.
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