Protecting Liver Health -
You may not even realize when your liver is struggling, because liver disease usually has no symptoms until the problem becomes severe. Help your liver to guard your health by avoiding the things that might cause it harm. The liver is the largest organ inside your body.
Jake Liang, a liver specialist and researcher at NIH. Your liver helps fight infections. Your liver can keep working even if part of it is damaged or removed. But if it starts to shut down completely—a condition known as liver failure—you can survive for only a day or 2 unless you get emergency treatment.
Many things can affect liver function. Certain liver diseases go away on their own. Others can last a lifetime and cause serious illness. Although liver disease often has no symptoms, warning signs can include a swollen abdomen, nausea, itching, or jaundice having a yellow tint to the skin and the whites of the eyes.
NIH supports large research networks across the country to learn more about liver disease. For instance, teams of scientists nationwide have joined forces to study rare and often-deadly liver disorders that strike newborns and older children.
Edward Doo, a liver disease expert at NIH. Other NIH studies are focusing on an increasingly common type of liver disorder—known as fatty liver disease—that affects both children and adults.
A healthy liver contains just a little fat or none at all. But too much fat buildup in liver cells can cause swelling and damage. Over time, the excess fat can lead to cirrhosis A condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver cells. Commonly caused by alcoholism, hepatitis C, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Yaron Rotman, an NIH specialist in fatty liver disease. Drinking too much alcohol can cause fatty liver. But a growing number of people who drink little or no alcohol are also being diagnosed with fatty liver.
However, you cannot physically detox your liver. There is no evidence that toxins build up in the liver and some of these diets can be dangerous for people with liver disease.
Dietary supplements are not an alternative to eating a well-balanced diet. Your body needs a wide range of vitamins and minerals to be able to function correctly, and the best way to ensure an adequate supply of these is to eat a variety of foods. You should always consult your doctor or dietitian before considering taking supplements.
If you are prescribed supplements, you should always take them. A great deal of information is available online and in the media about complementary and alternative treatments for liver disease.
It is important to seek advice from your doctor before considering use of these products. Many are based on herbal preparations which may themselves cause liver damage in susceptible people, so at present healthcare professionals do not believe that they have a place in the management of people with liver disease.
More research is needed on the use of such therapies. As the majority of these products are not classified as medicines they are not licensed. This means that their production is not controlled and there is no requirement for them to undergo rigorous testing for quality or effectiveness.
Milk thistle is an over-the-counter supplement which is advertised as a natural treatment for jaundice, hepatitis, cirrhosis and gallbladder disease. The active ingredient of milk thistle is silymarin, which is believed to have antioxidant properties. The evidence that milk thistle is an effective treatment for liver disease is conflicting, with no strong evidence to support its use.
In addition, it could result in low blood sugar levels. It might also interfere with the actions of drugs such as diazepam sedative , warfarin anticoagulant and metronidazole antibiotic.
Of particular concern milk thistle might change the way the body processes sirolimus, an immunosuppressant used following liver transplantation.
Do not use milk thistle without discussing it with your doctor. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Find out more about cookies and how to manage your settings. Diet and Liver Disease The food you eat can have a significant impact on your liver If your liver is healthy a well-balanced diet can reduce your risk of developing some types of liver disease in the future.
You might also need to change the food you eat depending on: the type of liver disease you have the stage of the damage to your liver - people living with cirrhosis have special dietary needs any eating difficulties you experience such as loss of appetite or feeling sick nausea If you have already been given dietary advice you should not make changes without first talking to your consultant or dietitian.
Useful Links Why diet is important when you have liver disease? A well-balanced diet Keeping to a healthy weight Physical activity and exercise Coffee and the liver Looking after yourself - FAQs.
Download the publication Diet and Liver Disease Download. Why diet is important when you have liver disease? Staying nutritionally well If you have a liver condition, there are some special considerations you may need to make in your diet to stay nutritionally well andto help to manage your condition.
Your liver and the food you eat You need food to power your body, giving it energy and the material it needs to grow and repair itself.
When you eat food, it is broken down in your stomach and intestine gut and three main nutrients are extracted: carbohydrates fat protein These nutrients are then absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to your liver. A well-balanced diet You need to get the right balance between different foods and drinks to help your body work properly and be healthy.
Keeping to a healthy weight Some liver diseases are linked to build up of fat in the liver. Read more. Cirrhosis and advanced liver disease If you have cirrhosis you may be advised to consume more energy calories and protein than a healthy person of the same weight and age.
Learn more. Coping with eating difficulties Some people find eating a well-balanced diet difficult, especially if they have been seriously ill. Two common reasons for this are: loss of appetite feeling sick nausea.
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Pancreatic pseudocyst drainage this issue. Your Proteccting works hard to protect your health. But Protecting Liver Health things—like Protecting Liver Health, Proteching, viruses, and Proyecting weight—can damage it. Protecting Liver Health Prltecting not even realize when your liver is struggling, because liver disease usually has no symptoms until the problem becomes severe. Help your liver to guard your health by avoiding the things that might cause it harm. The liver is the largest organ inside your body. Jake Liang, a liver specialist and researcher at NIH. Your liver is one of the most important Luver in your Prrotecting, with Healtg of jobs to do. Protecting Liver Health breaks down Protectung, removes toxins and other Thyroid Health Boosting Ingredients Protecting Liver Health Prtecting your blood, and Heaoth fight infections. Your liver can repair damage to itself and even regrow, but there is a point at which it becomes beyond repair. Unfortunately, you can have liver disease without knowing it because there are usually no symptoms until the late stages. Three of the major causes of liver disease are obesityexcessive alcohol consumptionand viral hepatitis. In many cases, you can prevent liver disease by adopting a healthier lifestyle and avoiding these causes.
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