Having a bad liver can be detrimental to your health because it’s a vital organ of the body. It’s a serious condition that demands immediate attention if you want to regain a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, liver failure is deadly, so you should note early signs immediately.
Understanding Liver Function
The liver is the biggest organ of the body and helps flush toxins from the blood. It also performs other relevant functions in the body, and that’s why having a bad liver is not something to take lightly. Some things you do can make it stop functioning adequately, and infection might also be responsible.
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The liver can naturally heal itself after being damaged by factors like
- Alcohol
- Hepatitis
- Obesity
- Hemochromatosis, etc
However, when the load is too much to handle, it eventually fails.
Just as we have scars from recent wounds, it’s the same with the liver. However, during these moments, the liver has scars, and its condition is critical, so you’ll start experiencing symptoms, which is called cirrhosis. The liver has endured much damage and can’t take it anymore.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, cirrhosis is a “widespread disruption of the normal liver structure by fibrosis and the formation of regenerative nodules that is caused by any of various chronic progressive conditions affecting the liver (such as long-term alcohol abuse or hepatitis).”
So, what are the first signs of having a bad liver?
Early Signs Of A Bad Liver
The moment you start experiencing these symptoms, know that you have a bad liver, and it’s high time you consult a healthcare provider.
Sickness
Since the liver cannot filter toxins from the blood anymore, those toxins are stored in your body and make you feel sick, making you feel tired and sluggish. You will also not feel like eating anything, which can make you lose weight.
Abdominal Discomfort Or Pain
You will find the liver in the upper right corner of your abdomen, and the ribcage covers it. Having a bad liver will cause pain in your abdomen. This pain can also progress to a swollen abdomen or legs. This is because the toxins that cannot be flushed are stored there. It will affect mobility and your daily activities.
Jaundice
Have you ever noticed people with yellow eyes or skin? That’s called jaundice. It’s one of the early signs of liver disease. It occurs when the red blood cells break down, making bilirubin, a yellow pigment that is stored in the blood and changes the color of the eyes or skin.
Nausea, Vomiting, Or Diarrhea
One of the liver’s functions is to digest fats, and since it’s damaged, it will fail in this role. It digests these fats from the foods you consume by producing bile, but now the stomach cannot take the indigested fats, and you will have to experience nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Colored Urine Or Stool
When you realize that your urine and stool have deviated from their normal color to something else, it may indicate liver disease. Too much bilirubin is responsible for the dark urine, while an absence of bile can make the stool appear pale instead of its regular brown color. Expect something like this because the liver finds it difficult to process and remove waste products from the body, creating toxins that will cause discoloration in your urine and stool.
Itchy Skin
Another term for itchy skin is pruritus, and it’s consistent. The bile salt is responsible for it. Since it cannot digest and absorb fats anymore, it stores them in your body, and it irritates your skin, making you scratch it for relief. Only a bad liver can let this happen.
Unreliable Blood Clotting
Another good function of the liver is to produce proteins that help clot the blood during an injury. Sadly, a faulty liver cannot perform this duty anymore, so even if you have a minor injury, it will take time to heal. You would have lost enough blood before finding ways to stop the blood or before the liver tried to rescue you.
Conclusion
The liver is a vital body organ that can perform several valuable functions. Some factors, like alcohol, hepatitis, obesity, hemochromatosis, etc., can reduce its role. Therefore, please take note of its signs and find a solution immediately. Your healthcare provider can help you out.
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