1. Take the Liver Disease Quiz
2. Hepatitis Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Hepatitis
3. Take the Alcohol Quiz

Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Bhupinder Anand, MD

For the majority of patients, NAFLD is a benign disease and is not associated with any symptoms. It is only when the liver manifests signs of inflammation, either NASH or alcoholic steatohepatitis, that the patient may experience symptoms. As with other types of hepatitis, the initial symptoms are non-specific and include malaise, fatigue, and upper abdominal fullness and discomfort.

If steatohepatitis progresses to cirrhosis, symptoms of liver failure may develop. Symptoms of liver failure include:

• jaundice (because of the accumulation of bilirubin),
  
  
• ascites and edema (swelling of the body) due of decreased protein production by the liver,
  
  
• increased bruising, and
  
  
• associated mental confusion.

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