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| What is Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease? |
| It is a condition whereby an excess fat accumulates in the liver cells (steatosis). It can cause inflammation of the liver (steatohepatitis) which may then leads to cirrhosis and liver failure. Obesity and diabetes are the common traits amongst these patients. It affects all age group, children included. This condition is serious and often leads to liver failure and/ or liver cancer. |
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| What leads to NASH? |
| Eating fatty foods does not by itself produce a fatty liver. Nor does abstaining from drinking any alcohol prevent it from happening. But eating excess calories can cause fat to build up in the liver. It is still unclear how fatty liver disease comes about but the most likely cause is the metabolic syndrome when there is an excessive insulin secretion due to insulin resistance. The high levels of insulin leads to fat deposition in the liver. |
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| What are the risk factors for fatty liver
disease? |
- Overweight with BMI of 25-30 and obesity
with BMI above 30 (BMI- Body Mass Index)
- Diabetes – as many as 3 in 4 people
with NASH also have diabetes
- Hyperlipidemia is the elevation of lipids
such as cholesterol, triglyceride etc.
At least 80% of people with NASH have
hyperlipidemia
- Abdominal surgery – operations
to remove large sections of small intestine,
treat obesity or bypass parts of the small
intestines often lead to rapid weight
loss. This can increase the likelihood
of getting NASH
- Medications – anti-inflammatory
drugs, antibiotics used over a prolonged
period of time
- Other medical conditions relating to
disorders of metabolism, congenital disorder
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| How to diagnose the fatty liver disease? |
| A fatty liver usually produces no symptoms on its own. People often learn about their fatty liver when they have medical tests for other conditions. NASH can damage your liver for years or even decades without showing any visible signs or symptoms. When the symptoms do occur, it's mostly vague and a general occurrence as with other maladies, such as flu. Fatigue, lack of well-being and a dull ache in the upper right abdomen (a possible sign of enlarged liver) maybe present. At a more advanced stage, such as cirrhosis, symptoms are more pronounced. |
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| A physical examination that reveals an enlarged liver without any symptom is an indicative of fatty liver. |
- Blood tests, commonly known as the Liver
Function Tests (LFT), will show abnormality
in the liver which can be caused by the
presence of excessive fat in the liver.
- An abdominal ultrasound can detect the
presence of excess fat in the liver.
- Computerized Tomography scan (CT Scan)
is a diagnostic imaging used to take cross
sectional views of the internal organs
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is
a diagnostic imaging using magnetic fields
and radio waves to create images of the
internal organs
- Liver biopsy is the ultimate for the
correct diagnosis of fatty liver, whereby
a sample of the liver tissue is drawn
out with a needle and examined at the
laboratory.
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| How to treat the fatty liver disease? |
| There are no medical or surgical treatments for fatty liver, but there are some steps you can take that may help prevent or reverse some of the damage. You are what you eat is a very fitting description for obese people with fatty liver. The best treatment for fatty liver is the reversal of the risk factors involved in causing this condition. Maintaining a healthy diet, filled with low fat and low carbohydrate food, and exercising are the foremost solutions as they help to reduce weight the safe way. Good nutrition also helps to rebuild the damaged cells in the liver. Beets, broccoli, brown rice, carrots, garlic, tomatillos, papaya, plantains, carambola and guava contain antioxidants that help to limit the damage caused by free radicals, thus they have a healing and cleansing effect on the liver. Soybeans contain lecithin which helps the liver break down fats and helps reduce high cholesterol levels; lecithin also helps maintain healthy membranes around liver cells. |
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| What is fate of patients with fatty liver disease? |
| Although excessive fat in the liver is not a life-threatening condition by itself, its cause may well as be. Abstinence from alcohol, monitoring your glucose level, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can go long ways to improve and eradicating the condition. If you do not take care, the liver is likely to take one too many hits from the abuse, thereby leading to cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis is the scarring and hardening of the liver tissue and prevents the liver from functioning well and thereafter can lead to liver failure. |
