Liver failure & cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is severe scarring of your liver. Over time the scarring can stop your liver from working properly. This is liver failure.

Cirrhosis also increases your risk of developing liver cancer. Your doctor may arrange regular ultrasound scans to monitor for this.

Drinking a lot of alcohol is a common cause of cirrhosis. But there are other causes, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

If you have cirrhosis, be careful to limit any further liver damage:

Don't drink alcohol. Whether your cirrhosis was caused by long-term alcohol use or another disease, you should avoid alcohol.
Cut back on the amount of salt in your food.
Eat a healthy diet.
Avoid infections. People with cirrhosis have a higher than normal chance of getting infections, and can also become much sicker if they do get one. Keep up-to-date with flu and other vaccinations to avoid common infections.
Be careful about using over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol, ibuprofen (and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories) and herbal medicines, as they can make your condition worse. Ask your doctor if it's OK for you to use them.

HealthInfo recommends the following pages

Gastroenterological Society of Australia – No added salt diet
This page has information about a no added salt diet that may be needed with advanced liver disease.
NHS
- Alcohol-related liver disease
  This page has information about liver damage caused by drinking a lot of alcohol. It includes the symptoms and stages of the disease, and treatment.
- Cirrhosis
  This page has information about cirrhosis, including causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention.

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed May 2017. Last updated February 2019.

Page reference: 253229

Review key: HILIV-52878