The liver, the largest organ in the body, is located under the ribs below the lung on the right side. The liver processes and stores nutrients and many medications until absorbed into the bloodstream. Chronic diseases of the liver are diseases that last for months or longer. Symptoms of chronic liver disease include yellowing of the skin, anemia, vomiting blood and kidney failure.
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver, is a chronic degenerative disease brought on by alcohol abuse, autoimmune hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis, some drugs and inherited diseases such as Wilson disease. A healthy liver cleans the blood, makes protein, helps fight infection and stores energy. Scarred liver tissue prohibits the liver from functioning properly.
Symptoms of cirrhosis include fatigue, nausea, weight loss, bloating, nosebleeds and kidney failure. The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse states that cancer of the liver develops in about 5 percent of people with cirrhosis.
Liver Cancer
Many types of cancer metastasize to the liver--meaning the cancer starts in a location other than the liver, then travels to the liver. Primary liver cancer originates in the liver and includes several types: hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common liver cancer in adults, according to MD Anderson Cancer Center; Cholangiocarcinomas, or bile duct cancers, located in the small tubes that carry bile to the gallbladder; angiosarcomas and hemangiosarcomas, cancers located in the blood vessels of the liver; and hepatoblastoma, a rare liver cancer mostly in children younger than 4.
Symptoms of liver cancer include fever, fatigue, bloating, pain in the right upper abdomen and jaundice.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C, an infectious liver disease, develops into a chronic infection in 55 to 85 percent of the people infected, reports the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Of those with chronic hepatitis C, 75 percent will develop chronic liver disease. The hepatitis C virus spreads through contact with infected blood or body fluids. Most people infected with hepatitis C have minimal or no symptoms. Possible symptoms include jaundice, dark urine and fatigue.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
The cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, is an excess of fat in the liver. The American Liver Foundation reports that the normal fat content for liver cells is less than 5 percent. Routine blood tests to check cholesterol and liver enzyme levels or a liver ultrasound are diagnostic tools for NAFLD. One type of NAFLD is only a mild threat for developing serious liver problems; however, a type known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, develops scarring and swelling. NASH leads to cirrhosis in about 25 percent of the people who don't get treatment. A confirmation of NASH diagnosis requires a liver biopsy. Symptoms of NASH include fatigue and a painful enlarged liver.
