I was diagnosed with fatty liver at the early age of 23, which surprised me a lot considering my young age at the time. The doctor explained that my liver is covered with fat and needs to be diffused as soon as possible.
So I learned a lot about fatty liver a long time ago because I experienced it first hand. So in this article, I will discuss to you what is fatty liver, its symptoms, causes and possible treatments to help avoid worsening your liver’s health.
Read on to learn more.
What is Fatty Liver?
In simpler terms, fatty liver is a disease where your liver contains more fat than normal. It is medically known as hepatic steatosis.
It is normal to have fat in your liver, but if fat contents reach or exceed 10% of your liver’s weight, then you are already suffering from fatty liver disease.
Our liver helps process nutrients from food and drinks, then filters any harmful impurities from your blood.
Having too much fat in your liver can alter its function, thus resulting to a more serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis or hepatitis.
Excess fat in the liver leads to inflammation, which damages the liver and creates scarring. If left untreated, this disease can lead to liver failure.
Fatty liver disease is also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This means that your liver undergoes macrovesicular changes without inflammation (steatosis) and lobular inflammation, without the presence of alcohol use (1).
There are two types of NAFLD:
- Simple fatty liver disease
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
Simple fatty liver disease is the simplest form and is usually doesn’t get worse or cause liver problems. This type doesn’t inflammation or liver cell damage.
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) on the other hand, is the worse kind of fatty liver disease.
NASH means that your liver have inflammation and most cases showed liver cell damage as well, which leads to more serious liver problems such as fibrosis and cirrhosis. These conditions are either liver scarring or cancer.
And according to records, about 20% of people with NAFLD also have NASH.
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Symptoms of Fatty Liver
I personally felt no symptoms from having a fatty liver. It was just diagnosed when I took an ultrasound test, but there are absolutely no noticeable symptoms.
However, some people experience discomfort or pain in the upper right side of their abdomen.
As mentioned above, complications can develop when this disease is neglected such as liver scarring (fibrosis), or even worse such as cirrhosis (severe liver fibrosis).
If you happen to develop cirrhosis from fatty liver disease, then some of the known symptoms include:
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Nosebleeds
- Yellow skin and eyes
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal swelling
- Breast enlargement in men
- Confusion
- Leg swelling
Remember that cirrhosis is a life-threatening disease and must be controlled and treated immediately.
Causes of Fatty Liver Disease
Most liver health conditions are caused by too much consumption of alcohol beverages, which leads to liver failure, and of course, alcoholic fatty liver disease.
But fatty liver is a different condition. I don’t consume alcohol regularly, and I seldom drink. Which begs a question how did I my liver gets fatty?
Well, fatty liver develops when your body produces excessive fat, or doesn’t metabolize fat efficiently.
So why does fat accumulates in the liver? There are variety of causes why this condition occurs, and we have plenty of suspected factors.
- Obesity
- High blood sugar
- Insulin resistance
- High levels of cholesterol (triglycerides, etc)
- Rapid weight loss
- Hepatitis C
- Medicinal side effects
- Toxic substance exposure
- Genetic reasons
Based on these factors, the major contributing factor for this disease to develop is unhealthy lifestyle, which means imbalance diet and physical inactivity.
In general population, experts estimated that over 20% of people in the United States have NAFLD, and that’s because of the lifestyle change in this generation (2).
People nowadays are used to eat processed and fast foods, which are packed with unhealthy fat and chemicals that ruins liver cells. Fatty and junk foods are all over the place and is quite readily available.
People are also more couch potatoes these days, spending countless hours watching Netflix or playing with their video games. Thus, resulting to lack of physical activity.
These are the reasons why more and more people are getting overweight or obese, and some even develop mental issues such as depression and anxiety.
How to Diagnose Fatty Liver Disease
As I said above, I learned that I have fatty liver by taking ultrasound test. However, there are other ways to diagnose this health condition.
Your doctor may ask for your medical history, request you to undergo physical examinations or do one or more tests.
Here are some of the ways on how to diagnose this disease:
- Medical history
- Physical examination
- Blood tests
- Imaging tests
- Liver biopsy
Medical history means that your doctor will ask you questions about your family’s medical history, (especially any information of liver disease) alcohol consumption, any existing medical conditions or lifestyle habits, medications that you are taking and many others.
Physical examinations involves pressing your abdomen and check if your liver is enlarged. This procedure however, isn’t the best choice for diagnosing fatty liver disease.
Blood tests include liver enzyme blood tests to check if you have irregularities in your liver. This include alanine aminotransferase test and aspartate aminotransferase test.
Imaging tests include ultrasound, CT scan and MRI scan. Lastly, liver biopsy is the most accurate way of diagnosing any liver disease and its severity.
Fatty Liver Treatment
First thing to reverse fatty liver is to diffuse the fat itself in your liver. To do that, the most practical way is to stop alcohol consumption and reduce your fat intake.
Currently, there is no specific medicinal drug that is specially formulated to treat this health condition. However, there are some therapy drugs that help reverse or diffuse liver fat.
I personally take Essentiale Forte, which is the number 1 prescribed brand here in the Philippines for liver care. My doctor said that I have to take this medication for life. So I am taking this drug until now.
You can search other liver care supplements or drugs at Amazon.com.
Aside from cessation of alcohol use and limiting fatty food intake, you must also change your overall lifestyle such as planning a suitable workout program to help you lose weight fast.
Like me, you may also undergo medications depending on the severity of your liver’s condition. Doctors may also recommend surgery if needed.
Supplements such as Liver Support Plus is a great way to prevent any liver health conditions. Read our review to learn more about this product.
Conclusion
There you have it! Fatty liver may not have noticeable symptoms, but it can definitely lead to a more serious and deadly health conditions.
Remember that liver damage and other major liver diseases can be prevented if you don’t neglect fatty liver disease.
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References:
Faty Liver
by: Catiele Antunes, Mohammadreza Azadfard, Filles Hoilat, and Mohit Gupta
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441992/
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver
by: Pujitha Kudaravalli, and Savio John
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541033/
Image Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Depiction_of_a_man_suffering_from_fatty_liver.png
https://www.myupchar.com/en, CC BY-SA 4.0
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