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http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/in_depth/liver

Alcoholic liver disease

It's your liver's job to filter toxins, such as alcohol, out of your blood. Alcohol is metabolised in the liver and used to generate fat. If you regularly drink more than the recommended guidelines, your liver will quickly become fatty. The liver cells become bloated and unable to work properly. Nearly all heavy drinkers are thought to have alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Over time, a build-up of fat can harm your liver. In around one-quarter of people, the fat causes inflammation - known as alcoholic hepatitis - and in around one in five this can lead to serious scarring, known as cirrhosis.

In some cases, alcoholic hepatitis can occur suddenly if large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short space of time, as your liver is unable to cope.

Where scarring occurs, the liver will start to lose function. Even at this stage you may not notice any symptoms. Stopping drinking immediately and continuing to abstain will prevent any further damage. However, if damage from alcohol continues your liver will start to fail.

Hepatitis A virus

Hepatitis A is carried in faeces. It's transmitted from person to person, or through contaminated food or drink owing to poor personal hygiene.

Symptoms are generally mild and usually leave no long-term effects. However, in some people hepatitis A can cause a severe illness with liver failure.

If you're travelling to countries with poor sanitation or water quality, vaccination is recommended.

Hepatitis B virus

Hepatitis B is present in infected blood and other body fluids. It's incredibly infectious and is easily spread among young children or from mother to baby. It can also be passed on during sex or by sharing unsterile needles and equipment, for example during:

• Drug use
• Tattoos and body piercing
• Acupuncture
• Medical treatment

Infection can lead to liver disease and liver cancer. A vaccination is recommended if you're visiting areas of the world where hepatitis B is very common (Asia and Africa) or if your lifestyle or work puts you at risk.

Hepatitis C virus

People infected with hepatitis C often show no symptoms, but long-term effects can include liver damage and cancer. The virus is passed on through infected blood in similar ways to hepatitis B. In the UK blood used for transfusion has been screened for hepatitis C since 1991. People who are most at risk are those who share needles.

No vaccine exists to prevent hepatitis C infection, but treatments are available and effective in more than half of cases.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition where the liver becomes very fatty in people who don't drink or who consume little alcohol. Although anyone can get it, you're most at risk if you're very overweight (obese) or have diabetes.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) refers to a progression of fatty liver disease where inflammation and scarring occurs, which can lead to cirrhosis. Cirrhosis due to NASH is increasingly being associated with the development of liver cancer and the need for liver transplant.

Autoimmune hepatitis

Early symptoms of autoimmune hepatitis - when the body's own immune system attacks the liver - include feeling tired and generally unwell. It can affect anyone, but women between 15 and 25 and men and women over 50 are most at risk.

Haemochromatosis

In haemochromatosis there is too much iron in the body due to a genetic defect in the mechanisms that regulate iron absorption. When too much iron is stored in the liver, it can lead to cirrhosis. It's now known to be one of the most common inherited diseases in northern Europe, affecting one in 300 people.

Wilson's disease

Copper is used by our bodies to repair cells, but too much is poisonous. The liver controls the amount of copper in the body, but for people with Wilson's disease this control fails and levels build up, damaging the liver, brain and other organs. About one in 30,000 people are thought to be affected.

Primary biliary cirrhosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) is a disease that destroys the bile ducts. The damage stops the flow of bile and causes it to build up in the liver. Over many years, this can lead to scarring and cirrhosis.

Researchers believe PBC may be an autoimmune disease. Nine out of 10 people with PBC are women, generally middle-aged or older.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis

In primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), inflammation of the bile ducts may cause them to scar and narrow, obstructing the flow of bile, which may lead to it pooling in the biliary system. This 'stagnant' pool of bile may get infected causing pain, fever and jaundice (cholangitis).

Over a long period, inflammation due to the bile retention and recurrent infection leads to scarring and eventually cirrhosis. No one knows what causes PSC, but the people most at risk include those with inflammatory bowel disease. It's twice as common in men than women.

Obstetric cholestasis

A liver condition that occurs in around one in 140 UK pregnancies. Obstetric cholestasis (OC) can be recognised by intense itching and can pose risks to the baby, such as early delivery, distress and sometimes stillbirth.

Gallstones and gall bladder disease

One in 10 people in the UK will get gallstones or some other gall bladder disease in their lifetime. Anyone can get gallstones, but people most at risk include middle-aged and overweight women, those recently pregnant and people who have recently lost weight.

Cancer of the liver

Cancer can start in the liver (known as primary liver cancer) or it can spread from another part of the body (secondary liver cancer). People most at risk of primary liver cancer are those with cirrhosis. It isn't easy to diagnose early (when treatments are most effective) as the symptoms are often vague.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/in_depth/liver