When To Call A Professional

Call your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms of liver cancer:

Fatigue,Mild fever, A yellowing of skin and eyes (jaundice), Muscle or joint aches, Nausea, Dark colored urine, Vomiting, Loss of appetite, Abdominal pain or swelling.

Liver Disease Symptoms

Whether it is a disease of the gall bladder or the liver itself, jaundice is one of the main symptoms of liver disease. When the skin becomes jaundiced, there is most likely an issue with the Liver or Gall Bladder. Jaundice can either turn the skin yellow or orange depending on the type.

The whites of the eyes often turn yellow. Jaundice is the result of the liver not properly breaking down old blood and transforming it into bile. It is important to consult medical doctor to identify if the jaundice is being caused by acute hepatitis or severe infection in the gall bladder. Symptoms could last several weeks and they could include the following:

1) Flu like symptoms
2) Light coloured stool
3) Yellowing of the skin and eyes
4) Dark urine
5) Extreme fatigue
6) Nausea
7) Vomiting and abdominal pain

One should also take note that a Chronic Active carrier could continue to damage the liver. Symptoms of chronic liver disease include malaise, weight loss, loss of appetites, and often jaundice. Although passive carriers show no symptoms, they could infect others. Milk thistle is traditionally recommended by health care providers for chronic liver disease.

Risk factors of liver cancer

Factors that increase the risk of developing primary liver cancer include the following:

1) Hepatitis or inflammation of the liver caused by a viral infection. There are different types of hepatitis caused by different virus i.e. A, B, C, D, E and G. Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are responsible for most cases of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis A does not increase your risk of developing liver cancer.

2) Cirrhosis, which is the scarring of liver cells that has several causes. In the United States, the most common causes of cirrhosis are hepatitis C and drinking too much alcohol. Fifty percent to 70% of liver cancers in the United States are associated with cirrhosis.

3) Direct contact with vinyl chloride (polyvinyl chloride or PVC)

4) Exposure to arsenic, a chemical used as a wood preservative, herbicide, insecticide, and in manufacturing some glass and metallic alloys. Some drinking water is contaminated by arsenic. It also exists in natural mineral deposits.

5) Anabolic steroids, which are male hormones used to treat certain conditions, and are sometimes used illegally by athletes to enhance performance. Long-term use may slightly increase the risk of liver cancer.

Liver Cirrhosis

No other organs in our body perform a wider variety of essential jobs than the liver because it:
1) produces essential proteins that help blood to clot
2) removes or neutralizes poisons, drugs and alcohol
3) manufactures bile that helps the body to absorb fats and cholesterol
4) helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels
5) regulates several hormones

Liver Cirrhosis is a disease in which normal liver cells are replaced by scar tissue, which interferes with all of these important functions. In extreme cases, the damage is so severe that the only solution is a liver transplant. Cirrhosis is the eighth leading cause of death by disease in the United States, killing 25,000 people each year. It impairs thousands of other people as the liver gradually loses its ability to function.

In the United States and Europe, the most common causes of liver cirrhosis are excessive alcohol use and chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus.
Alcoholic cirrhosis tends to develop after a decade or more of heavy drinking, although it is possible for "social drinkers" to have cirrhosis. It is not known why some people are more prone to adverse reactions than others, but women are at greater risk of cirrhosis, even when they drink less alcohol than men.

Chronic hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver that eventually can lead to cirrhosis. One out of every five people with chronic hepatitis C develops cirrhosis after 20 years. Chronic hepatitis B, which causes damage in a similar way, is the leading cause of cirrhosis in the world but is less common in industrialized countries.

Prevention of Liver Cirrhosis

The most important step you can take to prevent cirrhosis is to avoid excessive drinking. It is best to consume an average of no more than two alcoholic drinks a day for men or one drink a day for women. If you have chronic hepatitis or other liver problems, avoid alcohol completely.

Some other causes of cirrhosis can be prevented. To avoid infection with hepatitis B and C, do not inject illegal drugs, snort cocaine, or have unprotected sex, especially with multiple partners. If you are considering body piercing or tattooing, make sure that the equipment is cleaned properly. Health care and emergency workers should follow infection control precautions carefully whenever they are exposed to blood. Hepatitis B also can be prevented with a vaccine, a series of three shots that is 90% effective.
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Sweat May Transmit Hepatitis B Virus During Sports

Based on a study done on 70 male Turkish Olympic wrestlers, a new study indicated that close contact sports, such as football, soccer, basketball or wrestling, may put players at risk of catching the hepatitis B virus (HBV) from their sweating opponents. Some of the athletes were found to carry the virus in their blood while some had the virus in their sweat.....Click HERE to get more details.