What are the symptoms of liver disease?

Are you experiencing any signs of liver disease?

Author: Emily Condon - Healthcare writer, BSc Biological Sciences

Published on: 13 January 2018

What are the symptoms of liver disease? There can be many different types of liver disease and many different reasons as to why liver disease develops.

Often, there are no obvious signs or symptoms of liver disease until the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. If liver disease is left undiagnosed and untreated, it can lead to irreparable liver damage which can cause a number of problems in the body. The following symptoms may be indicative of liver damage and if these persist, please speak with your doctor.

Yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice)
Pain and swelling in the abdomen, legs and ankles
Itchy skin
Dark coloured urine
Dark or pale coloured stool
Fatigue
Nausea and vomiting
Unexpected weight loss
Enlarged breasts and shrunken testes in men
Irregular or lack of menstrual periods in women

Although it is true that damaged liver cells can regenerate themselves, prolonged exposure to whatever is causing the liver damage such as alcohol or drugs leads to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and regeneration cannot occur. Without new, healthy liver cells, the liver is unable to function properly.