Now the DIY liver test kit that tells you when you've had enough

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A do-it-yourself test has been created to show drinkers if their livers are damaged.

The home kit, which is due to be launched next week, provides a quick and accurate diagnosis.

It includes a syringe with which users take a sample of their own blood and send it away to be analysed, with the results being returned within ten days.

A similar test on the NHS takes two weeks to turn around.

Patients using the new kit receive a colour-coded reading, ranging from green - classified as "normal" - through to amber and red, which indicates extensive liver damage.

The test cannot, however, reveal whether alcohol abuse, hepatitis or obesity is to blame. Further, more specific analysis is then advised.

Last night, doctors hailed the £99 kit as a potential life-saver in the battle against alcohol-related liver disease, which costs the NHS £1.7billion a year.

Having the test done privately costs £400, with the result available immediately.

A report published this month found more than a quarter of adults in the most prosperous parts of the country are drinking at "hazardous" levels.

Since 1999 there has been a 62 per cent increase in alcohol-related liver disease in the UK, it warned, with middle-class "vinos" - those who regularly drink wine at home - particularly at risk.

Dr Rajiv Jalan, a liver consultant at London's University College Hospital and one of the creators of the LiverCheck kit, said: "A lot of people want to stick their head in the sand and not admit they have a problem.

"Being able to do a test at home might persuade more of them to get themselves checked out. The liver has great powers of recovery, but it is possible to develop quite advanced damage without realising what's happening.

"It's clear many people are drinking to excess believing they can get away with it. Hopefully, by taking this test they will see the damage they are doing to their livers and stop drinking."