One of the common diseases of the liver is steatosis (or fatty dystrophy of the liver), which is characterized by the accumulation of fat in it. There are two main types of liver steatosis: alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Here are tests that can detect fatty liver disease and steps you can take to help prevent complications.

The liver is the largest solid organ in the body (weighing up to 1,400 kg on average), and also the most complex, as it performs more than 500 vital functions. It filters all blood in the body and regulates its clotting, breaks down toxins, produces bile, helps digest food, converts glucose into glycogen and maintains healthy blood sugar levels, is a source of vitamins A, D, E, K and B12, copper and iron ( in the form of ferritin). And this is only a small part of what the liver does for the body.

A feature of this organ that makes it unique is its ability to regenerate, restore cells destroyed by disease or injury. However, if it is continuously damaged in the long term, regeneration will not occur and liver function will be impaired.

Possible causes: alcohol abuse and obesity

Alcoholic steatosis occurs as a result of excessive alcohol consumption and is an early stage of liver disease. If the necessary measures are not taken, steatosis of the liver develops into alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (usually found in overweight or obese people) is defined by the presence of fat in the liver, which affects liver cells. Undetected and unmanaged, it can also progress. In the first stage, steatosis, the accumulation of fat in the liver cells can be harmless, and many people are in this stage without realizing it.

The second stage is non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, in which the liver becomes inflamed. This persistent inflammation causes scar tissue around the liver and surrounding blood vessels, and even if the liver is still able to function normally, the disease is actually in stage three, fibrosis. After years of constant inflammation, stage four cirrhosis (very advanced fibrosis) occurs, in which the liver undergoes permanent damage, leading to liver failure and liver cancer.

With and without risk factors

A person is more at risk of developing fatty liver disease if they are obese or overweight (especially if they have a lot of fat around the waist), have type 2 diabetes or a disease that affects how the body uses insulin (including insulin resistance , as in polycystic ovary syndrome), has an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity), is over 50, or is a smoker

CAREFULLY! Fatty liver disease has been diagnosed even in people without any of these risk factors, including young children!

In the early stages, symptoms are absent or appear only occasionally

In the early stages, fatty liver disease has no symptoms, it is usually diagnosed during routine examinations or studies aimed at other pathologies, except for liver diseases. People with fatty liver or fibrosis can sometimes have symptoms such as dull pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, under the ribs, extreme fatigue, weakness, decreased appetite, nausea, and unexplained weight loss.

Severe symptoms are observed in the advanced stage of the disease, when liver cirrhosis is established, and include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes), itching of the skin, edema (inflammation of the ankles, feet) and ascites (swelling of the abdomen due to the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity).

Blood tests that may indicate disease

Precisely because fatty liver disease is asymptomatic in the early stages, early diagnosis is difficult. But a doctor may suspect this condition if he finds that the results of liver tests (performed for other reasons) are abnormal. Diagnosis requires a medical history (medical history), physical examination (including checking the ratio of weight to height, called body mass index), blood tests, imaging (ultrasound) and, if necessary, a biopsy. , to determine how serious the liver damage is. In the history, to determine whether it is alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver, an honest answer about alcohol consumption is required.

It is also important for the doctor to know whether the patient is taking any treatment, because some drugs – for example, corticosteroids and tetracyclines, but not only! – can be the cause of fatty liver disease.

As for blood tests that provide information about the health of the liver used to diagnose the condition, parameters of interest are bilirubin, albumin, total protein, alkaline phosphatase, ALT (alanine transaminase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase), HGT (gamma transferase). glutamyltransferase), LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) and prothrombin time (PT).

Lifestyle changes are the best treatment

There are currently no approved medications for fatty liver disease, and lifestyle changes are the best therapy to prevent it from getting worse. Alcoholic steatosis involves complete and final abstinence from alcohol consumption, and non-alcoholic steatosis involves weight loss (as this reduces fatty deposits in the liver, inflammation and fibrosis) or discontinuation of drug treatment. drugs that caused the disease. With the clarification that the termination of treatment occurs only on the recommendation of the doctor who prescribed it, because it will have to be done gradually, there is a possibility of replacing it with another one that does not have such a negative effect.

Treatment is possible, a double-edged sword

Of course, anyone with fatty liver disease would be more than happy to be cured with nothing more than popping pills instead of giving up alcohol or losing weight… But at the moment there is no such thing as a free cure from other risks. Scientists have identified a drug that may be effective against fatty liver disease, but as Medical News Today reports, the risks outweigh the benefits.

Randomized controlled trials have shown that insulin sensitizers, lipid-lowering drugs (which help suppress cholesterol production), angiotensin receptor blockers, and pentoxifylline can be effective against fatty liver disease, but have serious side effects, from swelling to increased risk of heart attack, decreased bone density or blood pressure.

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