Quite a number of liver diseases are caused by unknown factors but the most frequent liver diseases are generally caused by one of the following factors detailed below:
Viruses that attack the liver cause this serious disease that comes in many forms. The most common forms world-wide are hepatitis A, B and C. While hepatitis A and B can be prevented by vaccines, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C.
People who drink alcohol daily, compared to weekly binge drinkers, are at risk for developing more serious forms of liver disease. How a person’s liver metabolizes alcohol depends on factors such as gender, age, nationality, weight and health. When the liver has more alcohol than it is able to handle, normal liver function may be interrupted leading to a chemical imbalance. If the liver is required to detoxify alcohol on a continual basis, liver cells may be destroyed or altered resulting in fat deposits (fatty liver) and more seriously, either inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) and/or permanent scarring (cirrhosis). Liver cancer can also result from alcohol induced liver disease.
Quite a number of liver diseases are caused or thought to be caused, by defective genes. These forms of liver disease may, in some instances, be diagnosed in infancy or may not show up until later in life. Examples include hemochromatosis, Wilson disease, tyrosinemia, alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency and Glycogen Storage disease.
There are instances where the body’s immune system may begin to attack the liver or bile ducts causing inflammation and scarring which leads to a progressive form of liver disease. Examples of liver diseases purported to be caused by the immune system are primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and autoimmune hepatitis.
The liver has the critical responsibility of processing most of the chemicals and medications that enter your body – this leaves it susceptible to acute or chronic liver disease caused by chemicals. In some cases, this is a predictable consequence of overexposure or over-consumption of certain chemicals such as acetaminophen or industrial toxins like polyvinyl chloride or carbon tetrachloride. In other cases, chemicals can cause an unpredictable reaction.
The good news is that primary liver cancer is relatively uncommon; the bad news is that many other forms of cancer often metastasize in the liver. This is because the liver filters a high volume of blood which may be carrying cancer cells, leaving it vulnerable to developing a form of secondary cancer. If cancer originates in the liver, it is often caused by hepatitis B, hepatitis C or it can develop in cases of advanced liver disease when cirrhosis is present.