The purpose of the liver, the largest organ in the body, is to filter out toxins from the blood, store sugar for energy and digest fat, notes MedlinePlus from the National Institutes of Health. When damage to the liver happens quickly, as opposed to the many years that some diseases take to cause damage, the medical term is acute liver damage or acute liver disease. There are several different ways that the liver may be acutely damaged.
Viral Hepatitis
Infection with any of the hepatitis viruses, hepatitis A, B, C, D and E, is one cause of acute liver damage. The incidence of infection with the various hepatitis viruses varies according to locations. Engaging in certain risky behaviors also greatly increases a person's risk of developing certain hepatitis viruses. For example, hepatitis B spreads mainly through having unprotected sexual contact and using contaminated intravenous needles. The symptoms of hepatitis, which may be more or less severe depending on the virus strain, include nausea and vomiting; fever; loss of appetite; jaundice, which is when the skin and whites of the eyes turn yellow; itchy skin; and a tender abdomen, particularly in the upper right quadrant.
Liver Cancer
Liver cancer occurs when some cells in the liver begin to divide uncontrollably and do not die when they should. When the liver cancer is fast growing, it is capable of causing potentially severe acute liver damage. MedlinePlus distinguishes primary liver cancer, which starts in the liver, with metastatic liver cancer, where the origin of the cancer is elsewhere in the body, but cancer has spread to the liver. Risk factors for primary liver cancer include hepatitis, the clinical name for inflammation of the liver; cirrhosis, which means scar tissue has replaced normal liver tissue; and having a low weight at birth. Additionally, men are more likely to develop liver cancer than women. Liver cancer may cause jaundice and an apparent lump in the abdomen. Often, however, symptoms are not apparent until the cancer is quite advanced.
Acetaminophen
Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in the over-the-counter pain medication Tylenol. Harvard Health Publications, which is associated with Harvard Medical School, reports that overdoses of acetaminophen cause over 56,000 visits to the emergency room each year. Ingesting too much acetaminophen causes so much damage to the liver that acute liver failure may result, which means that the liver is unable to perform its functions normally. Though acetaminophen is safe when taken at the dose indicated on the medication's label, people may accidentally ingest too much. Alternatively, a person may take too much thinking that a higher dose will better treat pain. Many research studies, however, have made it clear that too much acetaminophen can cause serious liver damage. In addition, taking the moderate doses of acetaminophen together with alcohol can also cause acute liver damage.
