New to MyHealth? Manage Your Care From Anywhere. ALREADY HAVE AN ACCESS CODE? Activate Account. DON'T HAVE AN ACCESS CODE? Create a New Account. NEED MORE DETAILS? MyHealth for Mobile Get the iPhone MyHealth app » Get the Android MyHealth app ».

WELCOME BACK. Forgot Username or Password? What to Expect. What to Expect: Liver Disease Prevention Using a team approach, our liver disease specialists work side by side to deliver comprehensive preventive services.

Liver disease prevention at Stanford includes: Adopting a healthy lifestyle Liver disease screenings Optimizing care for conditions that can lead to liver disease Support for liver disease risk factors Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle Living a healthy lifestyle helps your liver work as efficiently as possible and lowers your risk for liver disease.

Recommendations for a healthy lifestyle may include: Maintaining a healthy weight Eating a healthy diet Exercising regularly Avoiding alcohol, which makes your liver work harder to do its job Only taking medications that you need and carefully following dosing recommendations Liver Disease Screenings Screenings are tests we use to screen for disease in people who appear healthy.

Liver disease screening tests include: Blood panel test : A series of tests we run to examine your liver function. You may receive this test as part of a routine physical or care for another condition. Liver disease screening tests : Screening tests help us catch the signs of liver disease as early as possible.

For example, people of Asian and Pacific Islander decent who were not born in the U. should get screened for hepatitis B every six months. Learn more about liver disease testing.

Optimizing Care for Conditions that Can Lead to Liver Disease If you have liver disease or other medical conditions, it is important to follow care instructions and follow up with your doctor or our dedicated advanced practice nurses whenever you need help.

Optimizing your care is especially important if you have: Diabetes Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis NASH Complications of cystic fibrosis , such as blocked bile ducts Support for Liver Disease Risk Factors Certain habits, such as using alcohol and having a poor diet increase your risk for getting liver disease.

Previous Section Next Section. Clinical Trials. MyHealth Login. Help Paying Your Bill. Medical Records. Contact Us. Video Visits. Get a Second Opinion. COVID Resource Center. Healthcare Professionals. Referring Physicians. Allied Healthcare.

About Us. Here are 13 tried and true ways to have a healthy liver! SMA Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, , p.

June 24, What is Liver Disease? How Many People Have Liver Disease? Liver Awareness Month Feature The best way to fight liver disease is to avoid it, if at all possible.

Maintain a healthy weight. Weight loss can play an important part in helping to reduce liver fat. Eat a balanced diet. Avoid high calorie-meals, saturated fat, refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice and regular pasta and sugars.

For a well-adjusted diet, eat fiber , which you can obtain from fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, rice and cereals.

Hydration is essential, so drink a lot of water. Exercise regularly. When you exercise consistently, it helps to burn triglycerides for fuel and can also reduce liver fat.

Avoid toxins. Toxins can injure liver cells. Limit direct contact with toxins from cleaning and aerosol products, insecticides, chemicals, and additives. When you do use aerosols, make sure the room is ventilated, and wear a mask. Use alcohol responsibly. Alcoholic beverages can create many health problems.

Hepatitis B and C are only contagious from mother to child in utero or at birth, or through blood, sexual contact, drug use, or tattooing with an infected needle.

Autoimmune Hepatitis is caused by your immune system inflaming your liver cells. People with liver disease can use acetaminophen as directed, but they must avoid taking too much within a short period of time because it can result in toxicity and liver failure. Obesity does increase your risk of any kind of liver disease, including Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease MASLD formerly known as Fatty Liver Disease and Alcohol-related Liver Disease ALD.

Embracing a healthy lifestyle for optimal liver health helps heal existing liver damage and prevent further damage. Eliminating or reducing alcohol use, avoiding using drugs, improving your diet and activity level, updating your vaccinations, and taking preventative care measures increase your likelihood of fully recovering from liver damage and healing from the conditions it causes.

There is hope for your healing, and you can take the first step by contacting a medical professional to create the most effective treatment plan for your recovery. Call Us Today Josh Chandler November 28, Understanding Liver Recovery: From Damage to Renewal.

Call Now, We Can Help. Addiction Treatment Center , Alcohol Addiction , Alcohol Detox ,. Josh Chandler After growing up in Chicago and North Carolina, Josh chose to get help with substance use disorder and mental health in California because of the state's reputation for top-tier treatment.

There, he found the treatment he needed to achieve more than five years of recovery. He's been in the drug and alcohol addiction rehab industry for four years and now serves as the Director of Admissions for Resurgence Behavioral Health.

doi: PMID: Proliferation tracing reveals regional hepatocyte generation in liver homeostasis and repair. He L, Pu W, Liu X, Zhang Z, Han M, Li Y, Huang X, Han X, Li Y, Liu K, Shi M, Lai L, Sun R, Wang QD, Ji Y, Tchorz JS, Zhou B.

Site Menu Home. gov Science Education Resources NIH Clinical Research Trials and You Talking to Your Doctor More ». Search Health Topics. Quick Links RePORT eRA Commons NIH Common Fund. News Releases Digital Media Kits Media Resources Media Contacts Images and B-roll Events Social Media More ».

Quick Links NIH News in Health NIH Research Matters NIH Record. Quick Links PubMed Stem Cell Information OppNet NIDB NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research. List of Institutes and Centers NIH Office of the Director Directors of NIH Institutes and Centers NIH Institute and Center Contact Information More ».

Quick Links NCI NEI NHLBI NHGRI NIA NIAAA NIAID NIAMS NIBIB NICHD NIDCD NIDCR NIDDK NIDA NIEHS NIGMS NIMH NIMHD NINDS NINR NLM CC CIT CSR FIC NCATS NCCIH.

Who We Are What We Do Jobs at NIH Visitor Information Frequently Asked Questions Contact Us More ». Quick Links The NIH Director Take the Virtual Tour NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health ® Impact of NIH Research Science, Health, and Public Trust.

NIH Research Matters. March 9, Cells that maintain and repair the liver identified At a Glance Researchers uncovered the roles that different cells in the liver play in organ maintenance and regeneration after injury. The liver is vulnerable to injury from some medications, vitamins and herbal remedies.

Patients with chronic liver disease can have variably affected liver function. In recommended dosages, most medications are safe in these patients despite their altered metabolism and hepatic function. However, patients with chronic liver disease may be at increased risk for idiosyncratic drug reactions and less able to tolerate hepatotoxicity when it occurs.

Common drug classes with known hepatotoxicity include antidepressants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs, including cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors , muscle relaxants, psychotropics, anticonvulsants, lipid-lowering drugs, oral antidiabetic agents, estrogens, anabolic steroids and antituberculous agents.

Drugs with a known potential for idiosyncratic reactions include antibiotics, anti-fungals, antivirals, antiprotozoals and NSAIDs Table 1. All medications should be evaluated for toxic effects on the liver. If data indicate that a drug may be hepatotoxic, an alternative drug with less or no hepatotoxicity should be sought.

When treatment with a potentially hepatotoxic medication is deemed necessary, the drug should be used with caution and under close supervision.

Patients should be made aware of symptoms of liver injury, such as jaundice, anorexia, nausea, pruritus, fatigue and right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Transaminase, total bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels are used to assess patients for possible drug-related hepatotoxicity.

These levels should be obtained at baseline, every two weeks for the first month of drug therapy, every month for the next three months and then every three months. The medication should be stopped if measured values increase to more than two times the baseline levels or the patient develops liver-related symptoms.

Prescription and over-the-counter arthritis and pain medications are widely used. NSAIDs, which are taken to alleviate headache and a variety of pain symptoms, can cause idiosyncratic liver toxicity.

Fatalities associated with NSAID use have been reported. Because of the unpredictable hepatotoxicity of NSAIDs, patients who have chronic liver disease should not use these medications. Acetaminophen has predictable hepatotoxicity and affects the liver in a dose-dependent manner.

In patients with chronic liver disease who have pain symptoms, acetaminophen can be used safely in a dosage of no more than 2 g per day.

However, acetaminophen hepatotoxicity has been reported with dosages of less than 4 g per day, usually in association with starvation or alcohol ingestion.

Selected potentially hepatotoxic over-the-counter supplements are listed in Table 2. Vitamin A is a known hepatotoxin that is available over the counter. Multiple cases of hepatotoxicity have been documented with the ingestion of vitamin A in high dosages, usually more than , IU per day, and rare cases have occurred with dosages of approximately 25, IU per day.

The degree of liver injury associated with vitamin A depends on the dose. Alcohol potentiates the hepatotoxicity of this vitamin.

Vitamin A can cause steatosis, perisinusoidal fibrosis, chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Most multivitamin preparations contain 4, IU of the vitamin, which is well within the safe range for daily consumption. Patients with chronic liver disease should be asked specifically about the use of alternative therapies.

Such patients commonly use milk thistle Silybum marianum. There is no evidence of toxicity related to the pure form of milk thistle, and there is weak evidence of a hepatocyte plasma cell membrane protective effect.

For these reasons, it is reasonable not to discourage the use of milk thistle. Patients with chronic liver disease have a tendency to accumulate an excessive amount of iron in their liver parenchyma. Those with alcoholic liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or hepatitis C virus infection have a particular tendency toward secondary hemosiderosis.

Patients who have secondary iron overload must be distinguished from those with hereditary hemochromatosis, in which a primary genetic defect leads to an excessive hepatic and total-body iron load.

The level of iron loading is much greater in patients with primary hemochromatosis than in those with secondary hemosiderosis.

As many as 30 percent of patients with liver disease have high serum iron levels, and 10 percent have excessive amounts of iron in their liver tissue. The most likely mechanisms of liver injury from excess iron are increased generation of free radicals and increased peroxidation of lipids, which, in turn, lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, lysosomal fragility and cell death.

Iron has recently been shown to influence the natural history of hepatitis C virus infection and the response of chronic hepatitis C to treatment. Several studies 32 , 33 in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have found a high iron concentration in the liver to be predictive of failure to respond to interferon therapy.

Some evidence indicates that phlebotomy improves liver function tests in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. To date, no evidence suggests that dietary iron is harmful. Further studies are needed to study the effect of iron depletion in chronic liver disease.

The mechanisms for the development of fatty liver are varied. A reduction in the hepatic oxidation of fatty acids as a result of mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to microvesicular steatosis. Another mechanism is related to an imbalance between fat uptake and secretion, with high insulin-to-glucagon ratio states leading to macrovesicular steatosis.

Fatty liver can be the consequence of many diseases, including alcohol excess, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis C virus infection, metabolic disorders e.

Most patients with fatty liver are asymptomatic, and the condition is usually discovered because of hepatomegaly or mild abnormalities of serum aminotransferase or alkaline phosphatase levels found on a routine physical examination. In some patients, however, necroinflammation can be intense, leading to fibrosis and cirrhosis.

One controlled study 38 demonstrated that a weight reduction program combined diet and exercise can improve liver function test results and liver histology in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. With a weight loss of 4. Investigators in another study 39 found a correlation between high fat and oil consumption and elevated liver transaminase levels.

The findings of these studies suggest that a low-fat diet and exercise supervised by a physician for appropriateness could minimize hepatic steatosis.

Gradual weight reduction should be recommended in patients with chronic liver disease and obesity. Measures that can be effective in preventing the progression of chronic liver disease to cirrhosis are summarized in Table 3. Alter MJ, Margolis HS, Krawczynski K, Judson FN, Mares A, Alexander WJ, et al.

The natural history of community-acquired hepatitis C in the United States. The Sentinel Counties Chronic non-A, non-B Hepatitis Study Team. N Engl J Med. Knolle PA, Kremp S, Hohler T, Krummenauer F, Schirmacher P, Gerken G.

Viral and host factors in the prediction of response to interferon-alpha therapy in chronic hepatitis C after long-term follow-up. J Viral Hepat. Zein NN, Rakela J, Krawitt EL, Reddy KR, Tominaga T, Persing DH.

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in the United States: epidemiology, pathogenicity, and response to interferon therapy. Collaborative Study Group.

Ann Intern Med. Davis GL. Combination treatment with interferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C. Clin Liver Dis. Poupon RE, Balkau B, Eschwege E, Poupon R.

A multicenter, controlled trial of ursodiol for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. UDCA-PBC Study Group. Propst A, Propst T, Zangerl G, Ofner D, Judmaier G, Vogel W.

Prognosis and life expectancy in chronic liver disease.