Early-stage NAFLD does not 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 serious health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.
You may live the rest of your natural life without having any complications from it. It becomes more complicated for a small percentage of people when it turns to steatohepatitis (NASH), and especially when NASH progresses to cirrhosis. Research suggests that NAFLD overall may lower life expectancy by four years.
It may take 30 years for fatty liver to turn into cirrhosis (unless the patient has a genetic predisposition), so the typical age people are diagnosed with cirrhosis is 60. That said, people are becoming obese at a younger age now.
Is fatty liver disease reversible? Here's the good news. Fatty liver disease is treated with a combination of diet and exercise. With this regimen, the liver can heal itself and actually reverse the damage that has occurred over the years.
If you have NAFLD without any other medical problems, you don't need any special treatment. But making some lifestyle changes can control or reverse the fat buildup in your liver. These may include: Losing weight.
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.
Fibrosis progresses at a speed of 0.07 stages/year in NAFL and 0.14 stages/year in NASH, so NAFL progresses by 1 stage every 14 years and NASH by 1 stage every 7 years (4).
Fatty liver disease rarely causes any symptoms, but it's an important warning sign that you're drinking at a harmful level. Fatty liver disease is reversible. If you stop drinking alcohol for 2 weeks, your liver should return to normal.
The fourth stage of NAFLD is cirrhosis;
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.
In typical patients, cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease occur around the age of 70, but in recent years, the patient population most impacted by this disease is changing. Fatty liver disease is a condition where the liver develops fatty cells that reduce its function.
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. Yellowish skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice).
Simple fatty liver typically does not get bad enough to cause liver damage or complications. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), in which you have inflammation and liver cell damage, as well as fat in your liver. Inflammation and liver cell damage can cause fibrosis, or scarring, of the liver.
Losing weight addresses the conditions that contribute to NAFLD . Ideally, a loss of 10% of body weight is desirable, but improvement in risk factors can become apparent if you lose even 3% to 5% of your starting weight. Weight-loss surgery is also an option for those who need to lose a great deal of weight.
NAFLD treatment includes diet and exercise with a target 7–10% weight reduction. Treatment goals include improvements in liver fat content, liver inflammation, and fibrosis.
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.
Processed cheese is bad for your liver as it comes under the category of processed foods and has high sodium content and saturated fats. Excess consumption can lead to fatty liver diseases, plus obesity.