Liver Disease Prevention

Protecting your liver is an important part of maintaining overall health. Through healthy lifestyle choices, routine checkups and understanding risk factors, many liver diseases can be prevented or managed early.

Understanding the Liver

The liver is the most important factory in the body. It makes proteins and enzymes that help with digestion, as well as remove toxins and waste from the body.

The liver has a unique position in the body and is a vital part of our vascular (blood supply) system. It connects to many other organs physically and through constant hormonal communication via the nervous system. There are two main blood supplies to the liver, the portal vein and the hepatic artery. Because of the vast amount of blood that goes through the liver, the liver is constantly cleansing our blood as well as itself, taking out rich nutrients needed for its functions.

What is Cirrhosis?

Chronic repeated damage to the liver from a condition like metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), viral hepatitis (hepatitis B or C), long-term heavy alcohol use or other autoimmune or inherited conditions, like Wilson disease, can lead to long-term damage. Long-term injury can lead to liver scarring (fibrosis), which hardens the liver. The most severe form of this scarring is called cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis is the most common cause of chronic liver failure.

Liver Cancer

The presence of stage 3 or 4 fibrosis is one of the main risk factors for the development of primary liver cancer. However, secondary liver cancers, or those that spread to the liver from other sites, often occur in completely healthy livers.

The diagnosis of tumors in the liver is of paramount importance so that treatment can begin quickly. Many times, a diagnosis can be made using blood tests and imaging, such as CT or MRI scans. Occasionally, a biopsy of the lesion is required. The key is to move quickly once a lesion in the liver has been discovered.

How to Help Your Liver

To maintain good liver health, focus on a healthy diet, getting regular exercise and maintaining a normal body.

Avoiding Excessive Alcohol and Watch Your Weight

Drinking too much alcohol can increase a person’s risk of developing fatty liver disease and cirrhosis of the liver. There is a confirmed correlation between excessive alcohol consumption and a high risk of developing these conditions. In fact, up to 1 in 5 heavy drinkers can develop alcoholic hepatitis, and 1 in 4 of those will develop cirrhosis.

Talk to your liver specialist and your dietitian about how much alcohol is too much for you.

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are other risk factors that can put you at risk for chronic liver disease. It can cause a buildup of fat in the liver, which can accelerate scarring. An important facet of good liver health is nutrition and exercise.

Our specialists can help provide:

• Nutritional support
• Weight-loss guidance
• Medications to treat fatty liver disease

Get Screened for Viral Hepatitis

If you were born between 1945 and 1965, you are at risk of having hepatitis C.

Every adult should be screened at least once for hepatitis C. Additionally, every pregnant woman should be screened during each pregnancy. You should ask your physician to screen you for this curable but serious disease.

A simple blood test will make the diagnosis. Medication therapy for 8-12 weeks is very effective and cures 95% of people, halting the damage to their liver.

Get screened today if you were born within the years mentioned earlier or if you have ever engaged in behaviors that may have put you at risk for hepatitis. It could help prevent cirrhosis and liver cancer.