People are being urged to check the bottom of their feet for a symptom of liver disease that could be easily mistaken for something else. The condition of your skin on the bottom of your feet can tell you a lot about your health, Dr Mindy Pelz says.
While rough skin on your feet isn’t uncommon and may just be down a vitamin deficiency or wearing ill-fitting shoes, it could be caused by something more serious. In a new episode of popular podcast show, Diary Of A CEO, Dr Pelz says dry and cracked skin could be a warning sign of liver disease.
Speaking to podcast host, Steven Bartlett, the fasting and women’s wellbeing expert said if you notice dry and cracked skin on your feet, you may want speak to your doctor. She added: “Dry and cracking is showing that you’re not getting proper circulation down to your feet.
“So it can be a possibility that the liver is not doing a good job of detoxing and getting toxins out… Your circulation isn’t freely getting down to the bottom of your feet.”
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As Bartlett took his sock off to inspect his foot, he asked: “What is a sign that my liver is not healthy, looking at the bottom of my feet?” The doctor replied: “It’s the real dry cracks.”
The function of your liver can be split into four main categories, including digestion, blood cleaning, immune support, and blood clotting. Warning signs of liver damage or failure often appear when the liver is unable to perform its functions, though symptoms can differ from one individual to another.
People who have chronic liver disease may suffer from pruritus, also known as itchy skin. The itchiness may only affect one part of your body, such as your feet, or your whole body.
The affected skin might appear red, rough, with bumps or cracks. Scratching these areas usually does not provide relief and the itching tends to worsen at night, leading to disrupted sleep.
However, dry and cracked heels can also be a sign you have a vitamin B3 or omega-3 deficiency. This is because your liver makes bile and it is this bile that helps your body break down and absorb fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients.
But if your liver isn’t functioning well enough, it will struggle to produce the amount of bile needed to extract vitamins and nutrients. Having a vitamin B3 deficiency could also cause pellagra, which symptoms include diarrhoea, dermatitis, and dementia.
Severe dry skin may be due to cirrhosis. This can be caused by the liver’s inability to metabolize vitamin A, which is a crucial nutrient for maintaining skin health. A 2021 study, involving 125 participants diagnosed with cirrhosis, revealed that 93.5% of them had a vitamin A deficiency.
Other symptoms of a poor liver include jaundice, which is the yellowing or your eyes and skin, swollen feet, fluid retention around your middle, sudden change in weight, red palms and decreased brain function.
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