What is Fatty Liver Disease Who Gets It How's It Treated?

Answer 1

Fatty liver is one of the hazards of Alcoholism. It happens when the body of the alcoholic can no longer process their liquor and the calories from the drink accumulate in the liver as fat. If the situation is not reversed, the person can suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, which can lead to very severe disease and sometimes liver failure and death.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

However, fatty liver disease can affect nonalcoholics as well. Fatty liver, whether caused by alcohol or not, is surprisingly common. Even more surprisingly, most people can live with their compromised liver showing no symptoms and suffering no complications.

Some people do have symptoms that include weight loss, fatigue and pain that's centered in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, where the liver sits. The fat can cause the liver to be inflamed, which then leads to the scarring of cirrhosis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver happens when the liver, for one reason or another, can't break down fats and those fats build up in the liver. Besides alcohol abuse, most doctors don't know why this happens. However, there are some situations that can make a person more at risk for fatty liver disease. Type 2 Diabetes is one of the conditions, as are high cholesterol and high trigylcerides. Both obesity and losing weight too rapidly can put a person at risk for fatty liver disease. People who have had gastric bypass surgery are also more at risk. Sometimes fatty liver is the result of exposure to toxins.

No One Treatment

There's no one, sure treatment for fatty liver disease, and it's best to treat the whole person and their lifestyle. An alcoholic, of course, must stop drinking but also improve their overall health and diet. Other people can lose weight, exercise, control their diabetes, if they have diabetes and lower the levels of "bad" cholesterol and trigylcerides. A person with fatty liver disease can also help protect their liver through vitamins, supplements, or by taking up a more healthy diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fatty acids. If they're exposed to chemicals in the work place or at home, they should reduce their exposure to them.