The main functions of the liver are removing toxins from the body and processes food nutrients.
Fatty Liver is a condition in which excess fat is stored inside liver cells, making it harder for the liver to metabolize.
One most common cause of fat buildup in the liver is heavy alcohol use,
referred to as an alcoholic fatty liver disease.
This is a common but preventable one.
Alcoholic Fatty Liver
As the name clearly states, alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is developed by excessive alcohol intake. Unlike the brain, the liver is a very resilient organ. It is capable of immediately regenerating new cells to replace the dead ones.
Every time the liver filters alcohol, some of its cells die. Regardless of how resilient the liver is, excessive and prolonged alcohol intake reduces the liver’s ability to regenerate cells. This causes fat to buildup on the liver, resulting in eventually alcoholic fatty liver disease.
When in its first stages, this condition is easily reversible by merely quitting alcohol for a minimum of 2 weeks.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver
As the name implies, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the result of too much fat accumulation on the liver.
There are no exact reasons why some livers accumulate fats, and the same goes for liver inflammation.
So, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a condition in which the liver accumulates excess fat, not due to excessive alcohol consumption.
It’s a widespread condition in clinical practice. It affects about 20% of the world population.
We care about liver disease because it is one of the problems which can cause liver failure, liver cancer, and the consequences may need liver transplantation.
The accumulation or store of extra fat in the liver can cause chronic irritation of the liver cells and subsequently cause further liver damage.
There are 03 common causes of fatty liver disease,
- being overweight,
- patients with diabetes,
- with high cholesterol.
Keeping in mind some people with healthy body weight can also have fatty liver disease.
The increasing epidemics of fatty liver disease has been recently attributed to overweight and the high prevalence of diabetes. The fatty liver disease used to be a rare condition in children under 16.
However, Recently with the increasing problem of obesity in children, Fatty liver disease became affecting about 10% of children Early in the course of the disease, many patients have no symptoms.
When the scaring and the inflammation of the liver progress.
Many patients complain about problems related to the enlargement of the liver or fatigue.
If complications happened from Fatty liver diseases such as cirrhosis or complete scaring, patients could have problems with bleeding and symptoms of other complications of liver disease such as liver cancer or fulminant hepatitis.
we do a blood test for a patient with fatty liver disease often,
where many patients will have elevated liver function tests. Imaging modalities can be beneficial for diagnoses of fatty liver disease, such as ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, or fiber scan. Occasionally, patients might need a liver biopsy to assess the significance of the damage in the liver.
Fatty liver disease in the early stage could be completely reversible. However, if the patient continues to have excess fat in the liver, this can lead to the liver’s complete scarring or what we call sclerosis.
And subsequently, liver failure and its complications such as liver cancer and the need for liver transplantation.
The fatty liver disease becomes a more common indication for liver transplantation globally.
Right now there is no specific treatment for fatty liver disease.
The most important step is to control the risk factors for liver disease;
such as high cholesterol and control of the blood sugar and lose weight for obese individuals. There are recent studies that confirm the benefit of coffee for patients with liver disease.
Some of the symptoms of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver are:
- Slight fatigue
- Confusion or drowsiness
- Weight loss with swelling in the tummy and ankles
- Overweight and obesity
- Insulin resistance
- High levels of fat in the blood
- Hyperglycemia (High Blood Pressure)
The most crucial food to avoid for patients with fatty liver disease is a diet rich in refined sugars, such as bread, rice, potatoes, and corn. We recommend that patients consume lean meat and increase the number of vegetables and salads in their diet.
They are conducting several clinical trials at Johns Hopkins Hospital and looking for a novel therapy for fatty liver disease. We’re using tablets form for specific drugs that alter the pathophysiology of fatty liver disease. What we are hoping is to prevent the accumulation of fat in the liver. It reduces the amount of scarring in the liver from fatty liver disease and eventually prevents liver cancer and liver failure.
To be healthy and Hessle free liver, stay tune with my blogs, and keep exercise/run every day morning at least 30 minutes a day.
For more please visit and read……….
- Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Clinical Update
- everydayhealth.com-liver-disease
- liverfoundation.org
- motivatorkerja.com
- Thedailycrisp.com
Add a Comment