There's only one sure way to determine whether you have fatty liver disease; it involves a long needle piercing your skin to remove tissue from the organ. Before you get to that point, your health care provider may suspect you have fatty liver...
According to the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, cholecystectomies or gallbladder removal surgeries are among the most common surgeries done in the United States. When the gallbladder becomes inflamed and causes pain...
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...
Infants with biliary atresia typically appear normal at birth but begin to show symptoms of the disorder between two weeks and two months of age. The most noticeable physical sign is jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes....
Itchy skin, or pruritus, can occur with a wide variety of medical conditions and be very distressing. Liver diseases with bile obstruction commonly have itching as a symptom, but the reason for itching is not clearly understood. Treatment requires...
A fatty liver, also known as steatosis, describes a liver condition in which fats, or triglycerides, accumulate in the cells within the liver. Although a fatty liver often fails to cause any noticeable symptoms, if the condition goes undetected...
A fatty liver usually doesn't cause noticeable symptoms. An abnormal ultrasound, elevated liver enzyme lab tests or unusual findings on a physical exam may be the first indication of a problem with the liver. Although it's logical to assume that...
Liver disease is any disease or disorder that causes liver dysfunction. Medline Medical Encyclopedia states that there are many possible causes of this health problem, including autoimmune hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, drug-induced cholestasis,...
Ibuprofen is a medication used to manage the pain from headaches, toothaches, injuries and minor cramps. It is also used to reduce fever. According to Drugs.com, ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It prevents your body...
The liver is the body's detoxification center. All medications pass through the liver to some degree, says liver specialist Melissa Palmer, M.D. More drugs are withdrawn from pharmaceutical shelves because of liver toxicity than any other cause,...
Jaundice is an easily observable sign of certain health problems, especially liver problems. Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin and eyes caused by an accumulation of bilirubin in your blood. Bilirubin, a yellow-brown substance, is the byproduct...
Doctors calculate pregnancy from the last menstrual period, so at eight weeks of pregnancy, the baby is six weeks from conception. In the first eight weeks of development, the baby is technically called an embryo, and after that it is a fetus. By...
Jaundice in infants is characterized by yellowing of the skin and/or eyes. It is caused by an excess level of bilirubin in the blood. According to OhioHealth.com, bilirubin is a yellow-colored pigment in the red blood cells that is part of...
Many people develop a mild and clinically benign buildup of fat in the liver. However, once the fat cell population in your liver reaches around 5 percent of the weight of your liver, you could be entering the disease state. Although the only way...
Cirrhosis of the liver occurs when scar tissue forms on the liver. As the scarring worsens, symptoms and complications of the condition manifest. According to the American Gastroenterological Association, cirrhosis of the liver is the 11th leading...
According to the Mayo Clinic, liver function tests are blood tests that doctors use to determine whether a patient has a damaged or diseased liver. Some of the tests assay the blood levels of certain enzymes that the liver secretes into the blood...
Lactic acidosis is a condition of excess lactic acid in the blood. It is caused by insufficient oxygen. Lactic acid causes the blood pH to drop, meaning the blood is more acidic than normal. If the pH of your blood remains acidic, cells and...
Cirrhosis -- or scarring of the liver -- is a serious disease that can block the blood and bile flow from your liver; in severe cases, a liver transplant is needed. Cirrhosis is often accompanied by malnutrition due to nausea and loss of appetite,...
End stage liver disease, also called cirrhosis, causes fibrosis, or scarring of liver tissue that destroys the liver's ability to perform its normal functions. Cirrhosis, the twelfth most common cause of death in the United States in 2002, lead...
The liver is an important organ because it produces bile, detoxifies the blood and manufactures proteins needed for blood clotting. Several different conditions can cause an enlarged liver, also known as hepatomegaly.
The University of Illinois Medical Center (UIMC) lists the functions of the liver as making bile, attaching fats to carriers, transporting and storing energy, storing sugars, making proteins, storing vitamins and some types of minerals, making...
The last stage of liver failure, cirrhosis, usually develops over a number of years-- although acute liver failure can occur. Cirrhosis can be compensated--meaning that the liver retains enough function to perform vital processes--or...
Your liver serves an important function for your body. It helps filter toxins, stores glycogen and produces bile to aid in digestion. Eating fatty foods can negatively impact your liver and possibly destroy it. The liver is so important that you...
Bile ducts are a part of the body's system known as the biliary system. These ducts join the gall bladder and liver to the small intestine, delivering bile for the digestion of fats. Bile duct cancer (medical name, cholangiocarcinoma) is one of...
Fatty liver, or hepatic steatosis, is caused by the accumulation of excess lipids within the cells of the liver. Steatosis is the liver's most common response to injury, and it can occur during pregnancy, as a result of alcohol abuse or toxin...
If your doctor says you have fatty liver disease, commonly called simply fatty liver, you're far from alone. Between 10 and 20 percent of Americans have fatty liver, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Obesity, diabetes,...
When diagnosing hepatitis B, doctors frequently start by asking questions about recent behaviors that may have put a person at risk for the virus. Such behaviors include unprotected sexual activity, sharing needles for drugs or getting a tattoo...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most common chronic bloodborne viral infection in the United States. HCV causes inflammation of the liver and is passed from person to...
Cirrhosis is the scarring of the liver. The liver is a large organ in the upper abdomen which has a lot of roles such as detoxification of harmful materials in the body and blood purification. The National Digestive Diseases Information...
