Liver Disease Symptoms

If someone is suspected to have a liver disease, the doctor carefully watches the person's symptoms and conducts a physical examination. Depending on the nature of the symptoms, the doctor may also ask the person to undergo other tests such as a CT scan, liver function test, ultrasound, or liver biopsy. Among the most common liver disease symptoms are jaundice, liver enlargement, cholestasis, liver failure, ascites, portal hypertension and liver encephalopathy.

In jaundice, the levels of bilirubin or bile pigments in the bloodstream become abnormally high leading to a yellow discoloration of the skin and eye whites. Urine often takes a dark color, and other abnormalities are found in the liver cells. In newly born children, jaundice sometimes occurs because of the breakdown of a huge number of red blood cells. Jaundice is more often than not the first sign, and sometimes the only sign, of liver disease.

Cholestasis means diminished or stopped bile flow. The flow may be blocked inside or outside the liver and the symptoms include jaundice, dark urine, pale stool, bone loss, easy bleeding, enlarged spleen or gallbladder, itching, fluid in the abdominal cavity, pain from the biliary tract or pancreas and appearance of small, spider-like blood vessels in the skin. Cholestasis may be caused by alcoholic liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatitis, bile duct problems like cancer or narrowing, pancreas cancer or inflammation etc.

When someone's liver gets enlarged, it usually indicates liver disease, even though there are hardly any symptoms linked with a slightly enlarged liver. If one's liver is grossly enlarged, its symptom is usually a feeling of discomfort in the abdomen or ‘feeling full.' Portal hypertension is excessively high level of blood pressure in the portal vein, which supplies the liver with blood from the intestine. Its symptoms include a distended abdominal cavity (ascites), bleeding of the varicose veins at the lower end of the esophagus and in the stomach lining.

Ascites means accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity as a result of fluid leaks from the surface of the liver and intestine. Caused usually by liver cirrhosis (especially cirrhosis caused by alcoholism), chronic and alcoholic hepatitis, obstruction of the hepatic vein, ascites has symptoms such as a distended abdominal cavity, which causes discomfort and shortness of breath

Liver encephalopathy occurs when there is deterioration of brain function because of the build-up of toxic substances building up in the blood, which are usually removed by the liver. Liver encephalopathy's symptoms include impaired consciousness or judgment; alterations in logical thinking, personality, and behavior; confusion; mood swing; drowsiness; sluggish speech and movement, coma, loss of consciousness etc. Liver failure is a disease that occurs when the liver is badly damaged resulting in severe deterioration of liver function. Symptoms of this liver disease include jaundice, tendency to bruise or bleed easily, impaired brain function, ascites, fatigue, poor overall health, nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness etc.

Any person experiencing one or more of the symptoms mentioned above should immediately consult his doctor as he/she is most probably suffering from a liver disease which needs immediate medical attention. Otherwise, if left untreated, it could well take a serious turn.