Among the diseases of the liver, or liver diseases, fall a series of pathologies connected with damage to cells, tissues and / or liver functions.
Symptoms
The symptoms most commonly associated with liver disease include:
- jaundice (yellowish coloring of the skin and ocular sclerae);
- loss of appetite;
- fatigue, malaise and significant weight loss;
- dark coloration of the urine or clear of the stool.
Other symptoms common to various liver diseases are: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, varicose veins, hypoglycemia, low-grade fever, muscle pain and loss of sexual desire.
The pain in the liver, perceived in the center-upper right abdominal region, generally occurs only in an advanced phase of the morbid process; this symptom is in fact associated with the volumetric increase of the organ, especially when it occurs abruptly (acute hepatitis).
A rare and particularly severe infectious disease of the liver, called fulminant hepatitis, causes hepatic insufficiency, with the appearance of symptoms such as: ascites (accumulation of liquids inside the abdomen), coagulation disorders with a tendency to bleeding, general weakening of the organism, muscle atrophy and weakness, neurological changes (encephalopathy), splenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen), widespread edema and aplastic anemia.
Causes
Liver diseases can be caused by congenital defects (present from birth) or acquired, for example due to the toxic action of alcohol, drugs or toxins, or due to nutritional deficiencies, traumas, metabolic disorders and bacterial or viral infections.
Among alcoholics, for example, liver diseases such as alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatic steatosis or fatty liver (common also in the obese) are common.
The most common liver diseases
| hepatitis | Inflammation of the liver mainly caused by viruses (A, B, C, D, E), but also due to poisoning (alcohol, drugs, poisons, etc.), autoimmune diseases (autoimmune hepatitis) and hereditary conditions. |
| Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease | Excessive accumulation of fat inside the organ; it is an often asymptomatic and common disease among obese people; only in a small percentage of cases can it develop into steatohepatitis or cirrhosis, especially if there are predisposing factors. |
| Cirrhosis | Formation of fibrous, scar tissue, which replaces dead cells due to chronic hepatitis, alcoholism or contact with toxic substances. |
| hemochromatosis | Hereditary disease caused by the accumulation of iron in the body, which can cause major damage to the liver and other organs. |
| Liver cancer | This severe liver disease determines a volumetric increase in the organ, which in advanced stages is capable of producing pain. It is frequently associated with liver cirrhosis. |
| Wilson disease | It is an inherited disease linked to accumulation in copper tissues, especially in the brain and liver. |
| Primitive sclerosing cholangitis | Inflammatory diseases of the bile ducts, probably of autoimmune origin. As a result of the inflammatory process, the ducts shrink, hindering the outflow of bile, which accumulates in the liver and damages its cells. |
| Primary biliary cirrhosis | Autoimmune disease affecting the intrahepatic bile ducts. The accumulation and stagnation of bile causes this liver disease to produce damage to the hepatic parenchyma, which in the long term evolves into cirrhosis. |
| Gilbert syndrome | Genetic disorder that alters the metabolism of bilirubin, increasing its concentrations in the circulation. |
| Glycogen storage disease type II | Hereditary disease characterized by the accumulation of glycogen in skeletal muscle, in the nervous system, in the heart and in the liver, compromising its normal function. |
