Your liver is a vital part of your digestive system that, among other things, cleans toxins from your blood, processes medicines, creates bile, assists fat digestion, stores glucose, and produces proteins for blood clotting....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
It’s also a forgiving organ, capable of cell regeneration up to a limit, but recurrent liver damage causes inflammation, scarring, and cirrhosis.
This causes the liver to shrink and stiffen, altering its structure and preventing it from working properly. The liver can be damaged by a large intake of alcohol or chemicals, a high-fat diet, and viral diseases like hepatitis.
According to Mayo Clinic, the following symptoms necessitate liver function test as they indicate liver damage.
1. Jaundice.
Mayo Clinic explains that seeing the whites of your eyes turn yellow—or feeling yellowing of your skin—can be frightening, but it has a scientific explanation: jaundice is caused by a high quantity of bilirubin in the body, which is a yellowish pigment generated by the liver. If you see discolouration, it could be caused by a variety of conditions ranging from cirrhosis to hepatitis B.
2. Swelling of the legs or ankles.
According to the Mayo Clinic, liver illness can be caused by anything from excessive alcohol consumption to obesity, and one typical warning sign is swelling in your legs and ankles.
If you’re having puffiness and don’t know why, see your doctor to make sure it’s not something more serious.
3. Pale stool.
Bile salts, which the liver typically produces, give stools their black colour. If your faeces are pale, it could mean you have a problem with your liver or biliary drainage system.
Blood flowing through the gastrointestinal tract can create black tarry stools in severe liver disease; this requires immediate medical intervention.
4. Dark urine.
Dark orange, amber, cola-colored, or brown urine can indicate liver illness. The colour is caused by a build-up of bilirubin in the liver, which isn’t being broken down properly.
5. Excessive fatigue.
Are you constantly exhausted, no matter what you do? It’s possible that liver illness is at blame. Chronic weariness is one of the most common symptoms of liver impairment, and it may be caused by alterations in neurotransmission in the brain, according to a study published in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology.
6. Your palms suddenly turns red.
Do you have red palms for no apparent reason? It could be related to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a disorder in which too much fat is accumulated in liver cells and affects people who drink very little or none at all, according to the Mayo Clinic.