If you've been diagnosed with any fatty liver disease, let your health care provider know if you have any symptoms that mean the disease is getting worse. These include fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness, fluid retention, or bleeding.
Ultrasound or computed tomography (CT scan) to get a picture of the liver. Liver biopsy (tissue sample) to determine how far advanced liver disease has progressed. FibroScan®, a specialized ultrasound sometimes used instead of a liver biopsy to find out the amount of fat and scar tissue in the liver.
Most people with NAFLD have the early stage of the disease (simple fatty liver or steatosis) and only a small number develop the more serious stages. It can take several years for fibrosis or cirrhosis to develop.
You should notice your general health and well-being improving when your liver starts to heal. For example, you may notice clearer thinking, more energy, improved appetite, and less pain.
NAFLD has several phases of progression, which include simple steatosis, steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately could even progress to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Patients can live for many years with NAFLD, but many – about 30% – eventually end up with an inflamed liver or NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), and scarring. Of these, about 20% will develop end-stage cirrhosis, which can lead to liver failure and cancer.
It takes upwards of ten years for alcohol-related liver disease to progress from fatty liver through fibrosis to cirrhosis to acute on chronic liver failure. This process is silent and symptom free and can easily be missed in primary care, usually presenting with advanced cirrhosis.
Both NAFLD and alcoholic fatty liver disease are usually silent diseases with few or no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, you may feel tired or have discomfort in the upper right side of your abdomen.
Significant weight loss can improve NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Diet and exercise that result in a sustained body weight reduction of 7–10% can improve liver fat content, NASH, and fibrosis.
cirrhosis – the most severe stage, occurring after years of inflammation, where the liver shrinks and becomes scarred and lumpy; this damage is permanent and can lead to liver failure (where your liver stops working properly) and liver cancer.
So far, the two best drug options affirmed by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases for biopsy-proven NASH are vitamin E (an antioxidant) and pioglitazone (used to treat diabetes).
The good news is that fatty liver disease can be reversed—and even cured—if patients take action, including a 10% sustained loss in body weight.
yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice) swelling in the legs, ankles and feet caused by a build-up of fluid (oedema) swelling in your abdomen caused by a build-up of fluid known as ascites. a high temperature and shivering attacks.
Liver failure occurs when your liver isn't working well enough to perform its functions (for example, manufacturing bile and ridding your body of harmful substances). Symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, and blood in the stool. Treatments include avoiding alcohol and avoiding certain foods.
You probably won't know you have it unless it's diagnosed during tests carried out for another reason. Occasionally, people with NASH or fibrosis (more advanced stages of the disease) may experience: a dull or aching pain in the top right of the tummy (over the lower right side of the ribs)
Fat and toxins accumulate in the liver over time, causing the metabolism to slow down rather significantly. The liver becomes clogged and is unable to process sugars and fats as efficiently, causing fat to accumulate in other parts of the body and leading to overall weight gain. WHY IS FATTY LIVER DISEASE GOING UP?
According to the American Liver Foundation, there are no medical treatments – yet – for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So that means that eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly are the best ways to both prevent liver damage from starting or reverse liver disease once it's in the early stages.
Key differences between fatty liver disease and cirrhosis
Fatty liver disease is defined by the buildup of fat cells in the liver, but cirrhosis is the formation of scar tissue on top of normal areas of tissue. Both groups of fatty liver disease (AFLD and NAFLD) can lead to cirrhosis when not treated in time.
If your midsection looks like a pot and your arms and legs are rather thin, you're likely to have a LIVER body type or liver belly.