When left untreated, fatty liver disease can progress to inflammation, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Scarring due to cirrhosis isn't reversible. If you develop cirrhosis, it also increases your risk of liver cancer and liver failure. These complications can be life threatening.
Early-stage NAFLD doesn't usually cause any harm, but it can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it gets worse. Having high levels of fat in your liver is also associated with an increased risk of problems such as diabetes, heart attacks and strokes.
Research suggests that NAFLD overall may lower life expectancy by four years.
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 is sometimes called a silent liver disease. This is because it can happen without causing any symptoms. Most people with NAFLD live with fat in their liver without developing liver damage.
People with fatty liver disease often have no symptoms until the disease progresses to cirrhosis of the liver. If you do have symptoms, they may include: Abdominal pain or a feeling of fullness in the upper right side of the abdomen (belly). Nausea, loss of appetite or weight loss.
It used to be thought that progression from early stage NAFLD to cirrhosis took decades, but recent studies have shown that some people progress rapidly within 2 years. However, research has also shown that there is reversibility.
How long it takes to reverse fatty liver disease may depend on the cause. If your fatty liver is because of alcohol, you may be able to reverse the effects in about 2 weeks. If you have NAFLD, it will depend on how quickly you lose weight. But remember, be careful not to lose weight too quickly.
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.
The main complication of NAFLD and NASH is cirrhosis, which is late-stage scarring in the liver. Cirrhosis occurs in response to liver injury, such as the inflammation in NASH . As the liver tries to halt inflammation, it produces areas of scarring (fibrosis).
No alternative medicine treatments are proved to cure nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. But researchers are studying whether some natural compounds could be helpful, such as: Vitamin E.
The second stage of NAFLD is non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); This stage occurs when the build-up of fat in the liver cells is accompanied with inflammation. This stage is thought to affect up to 5% of the population in the UK, or 1 in every 20 people.
But if your liver isn't able to complete its tasks due to too many accumulated toxins, you'll suffer from symptoms of hormonal imbalance. This important — but little-known — connection between your liver and your hormones can lead to one of the most frustrating symptoms of hormonal imbalance: stubborn weight gain.
Lemon water can also benefit your liver health. Studies have observed that the liver produces more enzymes in the presence of lemon when compared to other food items. Enzymes are essential to stimulate, accelerate, and catalyze various chemical reactions in the human body.
The symptoms that can be associated with NAFLD are more common in NASH. And you are likely to experience additional effects as well, including: Diarrhea.
If you have fatty liver disease, the damage may be reversed if you abstain from alcohol for a period of time (this could be months or years). After this point, it's usually safe to start drinking again if you stick to the NHS guidelines on alcohol units. However, it's important to check with your doctor first.
You will likely have blood tests, including liver function tests and blood count tests. In some cases you may also have imaging tests, like those that check for fat in the liver and the stiffness of your liver. Liver stiffness can mean fibrosis, which is scarring of the liver.
We conclude that fat infiltration of the liver is well correlated with amount of abdominal fat. Fatty liver tends to be more strongly associated with VF compared to SF. In other words, if a non-obese patient exhibits fatty liver, the patient may in fact have visceral obesity.
Cirrhosis has become irreversible. Diagnosed at stage 3, the 1-year survival rate is 80%. It's during stage 3 that a liver transplant may be recommended. There's always a risk a person's body will reject the transplant, but if accepted, 80% of transplant patients survive more than 5 years past their operation.
Bariatric surgery may be indicated in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to achieve and maintain the degree of weight loss required to ensure therapeutic effects.
Liver pain and liver disease. Liver pain can be dull and nonspecific, but it can also be severe. It may result in a backache.
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.
While fatty liver disease and cirrhosis both involve the liver, it's important to note a number of key distinctions. 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.