Hepatologist Questions Hepatologist

How dangerous is liver disease?

I am a 58 year old female who was diagnosed with liver disease. I feel overwhelmed by my diagnosis but want to stay strong. How dangerous is liver disease?

1 Answer

Impossible to answer your question specifically without knowing which of the many kinds of "liver diseas" you have, but I can offer some reassurance by saying the that majority of "liver diseases" have a specific treatment (although for the two most common---alcohol and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease---the best treatments involve change in lifestyle---i.e. abstinence from alcohol or very significant change in diet respectively. A few diseases have no good treatment, but are rare, and any liver disease that progresses to cirrhosis can be "cured" by a liver transplant. A more specific answer could be crafted if a more specific diagnosis were available.