In the United States, NAFLD is typically diagnosed in children between age 12 and 13 years. Numerous large and multi-center studies consistently report mean ages within this range [9–11].
Although children and young adults can get fatty liver disease, it is most common in middle age. Risk factors include: Being overweight. Having high blood fat levels, either triglycerides or LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
So, those who have been obese their whole lives are at risk in their 30s, or in some cases earlier. Cirrhosis from fatty liver is even seen in some adolescents.
It can affect anyone, including all ages and races. But it's more common in people of Hispanic descent and less common in Black people. Middle age, weight and diabetes are also commonly associated with NAFLD.
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.
Fatty liver disease doesn't cause major problems for most people. However, it can turn into a more serious problem if it progresses into cirrhosis of the liver. Untreated cirrhosis of the liver eventually leads to liver failure or liver cancer. Your liver is an organ you can't live without.
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.
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.
Stage 1: Steatosis (Simple fatty liver) is a stage where there is a largely harmless build-up of fat in the liver cells but not to an extent to cause symptoms to appear. Stage 2: Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) is a more serious form of NAFLD and occurs if the liver becomes damaged causing it to become inflamed.
NAFLD and NASH are both linked to the following: Overweight or obesity. Insulin resistance, in which your cells don't take up sugar in response to the hormone insulin. High blood sugar (hyperglycemia), indicating prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
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.
Life Expectancy With Fatty Liver Diseases
People stay healthy despite suffering from the disease following a normal routine. The life expectancy with fatty liver disease decreases from 3 to 4 years because such patients develop other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular or diabetes.
Diagnosis. Fatty liver is most commonly diagnosed by a routine liver function test drawn from your blood. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a specific marker for liver inflammation and is typically elevated in individuals with a fatty liver.
Ultrasonography is a very efficient and widely available technique for the detection of fatty liver. The overall sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound in detection of moderate to severe fatty liver have been shown to be accurate and comparable to those of histology (gold standard).
Yoga is very effective in reversing fatty liver as many of its asanas can help stimulate liver and boost its function. Do yoga asanas like Kapal Bhati pranayama which helps to improve the blood circulation throughout the body and is ideal for the liver.
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.
Recent Findings. 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.
Fatty liver disease is reversible. If you stop drinking alcohol for 2 weeks, your liver should return to normal.
Kerry Sivia, of Gurnee, lost 100 pounds and was able to reverse her nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but not before it damaged her liver. New recommendations encourage people with obesity of type 2 diabetes to get a FIB-4 blood test for fatty liver disease.
Fatty liver disease is reversible. If you stop drinking alcohol for some time (months or years), your liver should return to normal.