Liver Health Treatment Guide

As your partner in care, we are dedicated to helping you get better. We developed this guide to answer your questions and help you find the best treatment for your liver disease. You will also find risk factors, symptoms and treatment options. If you have any questions about your care after reading this, please discuss them with your physician. We hope this is a valuable resource for you on your journey to better.

Understanding the liver

The liver is one of the body’s largest organs and is about the size of a football. It sits on the right side of the body just under the rib cage and performs like a filter that breaks down and balances the nutrients and chemicals in your blood. The liver also performs like a factory making bile to help digest food and storing sugar that the body uses for energy.

Liver disease is any condition that affects or damages the liver, causing it to fail to perform any vital function.

There are 100 or more types of liver disease so treatment options vary. Common liver conditions include:

  • Elevated liver enzymes
  • Fatty liver disease
  • Cirrhosis 
  • Liver failure
  • Liver cancer
  • Viral hepatitis
  • Autoimmune hepatitis
  • Alcohol-associated liver disease

Causes of liver disease

Liver disease can develop and progress in a variety of ways and symptoms may include:

  • general unwell feeling,
  • jaundice or yellowing of the skin and eyes,
  • confusion,
  • fluid retention,
  • dark urine,
  • loss of appetite and sudden weight loss,
  • itching,
  • and swelling in the feet and ankles.

Often there are no symptoms, and a liver disease diagnosis is discovered after blood tests.
 

Cirrhosis is the most severe liver disease and can be caused by:

  • Excess alcohol consumption
  • Fatty liver disease
  • Viral infections like hepatitis
  • Autoimmune hepatitis

Why choose us

For over 100 years, we've been helping patients heal with quality care, advanced medical techniques and innovative research. Our thorough approach to healthcare means that every patient has access to an expert team of physicians across a range of specialties that provides effective, comprehensive and tailored treatment plans.

Our liver health and transplant programs restore meaningful life through proven innovations in liver disease management and organ transplantation. Our hepatology services provide premier liver disease diagnosis and treatment for all liver disorders, including liver cancer and liver disease that may require a transplant. With hepatologists (liver disease specialists) on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Round Rock and we offer hepatology services in 13 locations throughout Texas including Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano and Round Rock, and 9 outreach clinics across the Southwest region, allowing patients with liver disease to access our subspecialized experts in convenient locations.

The liver transplant program at Baylor University Medical Center and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, one program across two hospitals, has performed 5,000 liver transplants combined since 1984—making it one of the first liver transplant programs in the nation to reach this milestone. Together, they represent the most experienced liver transplant program in the Southwest. Across hepatology and transplant, Baylor Scott & White offers patients access to many innovative clinical trials in a robust research program.

Baylor Scott & White Liver and Pancreas Disease Center is one of the few centers in the United States dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of complex hepatobiliary diseases, including liver tumors and cysts, pancreatic tumors and cysts, and bile duct tumors and obstructions.

Liver disease treatment options

Some liver diseases can be treated with lifestyle modifications such as exercise and diet or medications. Other liver problems may require surgery or a liver transplant.

Hepatologists on the medical staff at Baylor Scott & White Health are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage liver disorders. They work with patients, families, and colleagues to develop the best course of action to reduce complications from liver disease.

Non-surgical treatment options

  • Diet: Eat healthy by reducing sugars, salt and saturated fat. Consume lean protein, fruits, vegetables and nuts.
  • Weight loss: Reduce portion sizes. By cutting 150 calories a day, you can expect approximately one pound of weight loss per month. Exercise will enhance additional weight loss and potentially allow the liver to heal itself.
  • Medication: Antiviral medications are effective and widely available to treat hepatitis C. Medicines that suppress or decrease the activity of the immune system are effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis.

Other treatment options

    • Paracentesis: During this procedure, which is also called an abdominal tap, fluid is removed with a hollow needle to relieve abdominal pain. This fluid buildup in liver patients is called ascites.
    • Complex hepatobiliary surgery and hepatobiliary tumor management: This includes liver surgery for eradicating liver cancer or preventing its spread to other parts of the body.
    • Liver transplant: In cases of liver failure, a liver transplant may be needed. This procedure removes the damaged liver and replaces it with a healthy liver from a deceased donor or a portion of a healthy liver from a living donor.

Diagnosing liver disease

Your primary care doctor may identify elevated liver enzymes during a routine blood test. Elevated liver enzymes could signal inflammation or damage to cells in the liver. This could be temporary and does not always indicate a more serious liver problem. But if you or your family doctor are concerned about elevated liver enzyme levels, you could request a referral to a hepatologist (a liver disease specialist). Your hepatologist will review your blood tests and medical history and conduct a physical examination.

Tests may include:

  • Additional blood tests measure how well the liver is performing and can detect certain enzymes and proteins in the blood. The elevated liver enzymes you might see on your blood tests are:
    • Alanine transaminase (ALT)
    • Aspartate transaminase (AST)
    • Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
    • Total bilirubin
  • Imaging tests such as elastography, which is a noninvasive technique that measures the stiffness or elasticity of the liver tissue. The more liver stiffness, the more advanced the liver disease.
  • Liver biopsy removes a small piece of tissue from the liver to examine under a microscope to look for signs of damage or disease. Fewer liver biopsies are done in recent years due to advancements in ultrasound technology that identify liver issues with less risk. This includes ultrasound or MR elastography.

Once a diagnosis is made, your doctor will create the appropriate liver disease treatment plan.

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