Understanding alcohol and your liver
The liver:
- helps with the digestion of food in the gut, converting it into chemicals and energy the body needs
- helps maintain a healthy sugar level in the blood
- breaks down and helps remove toxins, alcohol, medicines, and harmful substances in the body
- makes the chemicals that help the blood clot
Alcohol and liver disease
Alcohol consumption is the most common cause of liver disease in the UK, accounting for 6 in 10 cases of liver disease.
One in five people in the UK drink alcohol in a way that can harm the liver.
You can still develop alcohol-related liver disease even if you are not addicted to alcohol.
Cirrhosis, the most serious stage of alcohol-related liver disease, is usually irreversible and takes many years to develop.
Resources
The following resources provide further information on liver disease:
- About liver disease | Liver UK
- Liver disease in numbers | Liver UK
- Liver disease | NHS inform
- Liver disease in numbers | Liver UK
Liver damage risk factors
- Drinking more alcohol than the recommended limits
- Having a pre-existing liver condition, such as hepatitis C or haemochromatosis
- Having diabetes, particularly type 2
- Being female
- Genetics – alcohol-related diseases and addictions often run in families
- Being overweight or obese
- Smoking – smoking increases your risk of developing liver disease, including cancer
Quit Your Way
If you smoke, the best thing you can do for your health and liver is to reduce your smoking, or ideally quit.
Visit our Quit Your Way section for advice on stopping smoking.
Symptoms of alcohol-related liver disease
Early symptoms
Early symptoms include:
- aching or discomfort on the upper right side of the stomach
- fatigue
People with early liver disease often have no symptoms. It is usually diagnosed much later, or during testing for other conditions.
See NHS Inform’s guide to symptoms of alcohol-related liver disease.
Non-urgent advice: When to seek urgent medical attention
Seek urgent medical attention if any of the following serious symptoms develop:
- Yellowing of the skin and white of eyes (jaundice)
- Pain over the liver area (upper right side of stomach)
- Itching
- Unexplainable weight loss
- Weakness and wasting of muscles
- Swelling caused by a build-up of fluid in the tummy, legs, ankles, and feet
- Tendency to bleed and bruise more easily (such as nosebleeds or bleeding gums)
- Periods of confusion, forgetting things, mood changes or poor judgement
Identifying your risk of liver disease
The Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index is a simple assessment tool used to help identify your risk of liver disease.
It provides an indication of the amount of scarring (fibrosis) in your liver using information from your age and routine blood tests. It uses information from your age and routine blood tests to provide an indication of the amount of scarring (fibrosis) in your liver.
It looks at your:
- age
- liver enzyme levels
- platelet level (part of your blood involved with clotting)
If your FIB-4 score is high, Ward 5 will refer you to the liver specialist team (through the Gastroenterology department). This may involve further blood tests and scans to investigate whether there is any damage to your liver.
It is important you attend any follow-up appointment offered, as early detection is key to improving your health and looking after your liver.