Your liver can be damaged for years before you feel seriously ill and these 14 symptoms are the early warnings most people never recognise

Liver damage can lead to widespread issues in your body. Your liver, located under your rib cage on the right side of your abdomen, filters blood from your gastrointestinal tract, aids in metabolizing food, medications, and chemicals, eliminates toxins and waste products, and produces important proteins. (Updated Feb 19, 2025)

When your liver is injured to the point where it can’t function effectively, it leads to liver damage. This can ultimately progress to liver failure, which requires prompt medical attention.

The most common causes of liver damage include overconsumption of ultra-processed foods, alcohol abuse, certain medications, viral infections, obesity and