Fatty liver

Deposition of the abnormal amount of fat in the liver is known as fatty liver.

Alcohol overuse can lead to fatty liver disease. While those who don’t consume alcohol, fatty liver can be seen due to some other reasons, which is known as Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Risk factors for Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are:

• Obesity
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Drug-related liver injury
• Certain liver infections like Hepatitis C
• Rapid weight loss or weight gain
• High levels of cholesterol and lipids in the blood

Usually, Fatty liver diseases is a silent disease with few or minimal symptoms. In some patients, symptoms like right upper quadrant pain, tiredness can be seen.

Prolonged duration of fatty liver disease, when not diagnosed, can lead to permanent damage of liver. On long run, jaundice, cirrhosis of liver, liver cancer etc can be seen in few patients.

• As fatty liver disease has only a few symptoms it is difficult to diagnose the disease.
• Often abnormal blood tests pertaining to liver disease or abnormal Ultrasound results may draw attention to your doctor towards presence of fatty liver disease.
• A complete history regarding your diet, lifestyle, alcohol intake, etc and a complete physical examination helps in diagnosing the disease.
• Other imaging tests like CT scan of abdomen or a fibro-scan may also be needed. Fibro-scan is a test which is done to determine the stiffness of liver.
• Sometimes a liver biopsy is done to confirm the diagnosis.

• Stopping alcohol usage.
• Weight loss: At least 5-10 % of reduction of your body weight is recommended for improvement nonalcoholic fatty liver.
• If you are taking some medicines which can lead to fatty liver, it will be changed.
• A doctor may prescribe you some medicines which can help you to improve your health.
• If a patient has developed cirrhosis, treatment of cirrhosis will be given.

• Fatty liver can be prevented effectively if timely action is taken. Abstinence from alcohol is of principal importance in prevention.
• Fatty and oily food should be avoided
• Exercise to target weight reduction of 5-10% helps in prevention and further progression of the disease
• A diet containing vitamins and anti oxidant like fresh fruits and salad also helps in preventing damage from fatty liver disease.
• Your blood sugar levels should be under control if you have Diabetes Mellitus. Control in blood sugar not only helps in improving your generalized well-being but helps the liver to fight against fatty liver disease.