Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Wednesday, 17 June 2020.
Tagged: fat, fatty liver, health, healthy cooking, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, nutrition
Within the next decade, fatty liver disease will become the leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver transplants. So, what is it? How do you get it? And most importantly, what can you do to beat it?
Your liver is one of the key organs of metabolism in your body and consequently is affected by the excesses of modern life. As waistlines burgeon and obesity levels reach crisis point the liver is put under enormous stress. Fatty liver disease is the result.
As its name suggests, fatty liver disease is the accumulation of fat within the cells of the liver. If left unchecked, it can cause inflammation, scarring and eventually progress to cirrhosis and liver failure.
Technically it’s called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (or NAFLD, as you’ll hear your doctor calling it for short) and it now affects around one-quarter of the population. The other name you may hear is non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH.
If you’re very overweight, There’s a 70 per cent chance you have it and if you have type 2 diabetes then there’s a 50 per cent chance you have it. Carrying too much weight and/or overeating is a clue to its cause.
The good news is that a healthy diet and lifestyle can reverse fatty liver – as long as you don’t leave it too late.
Eating excess food with not enough exercise causes fat to build up in the liver. When the liver does not process and break down fats as it normally should, too much fat will accumulate.
The fat may come from other parts of your body, or your liver may absorb an increased amount of fat from your intestine. However, the eating of fatty foods, by itself, doesn’t produce a fatty liver.
People tend to develop fatty liver if they have certain other conditions, such as obesity, diabetes or high triglycerides. It is normal for the liver to contain some fat, but if fat accounts for more than 10 per cent of the liver’s weight, then you have fatty liver and you may develop more serious complications.
There are no drugs or medicines that can cure NAFLD. However, scientists are studying whether various medications can help reduce liver inflammation, including new diabetes medications that may help you even if you don’t have diabetes. These include metformin, pioglitazone, rosiglitazone and betaine.
Take steps now to prevent fatty liver or start to treat it. If diet and exercise do not have the desired effect on the symptoms in six weeks, it may be time to see a doctor or dietitian. You must lose weight. Diet and lifestyle choices, however, are the first line of treatment for this condition.
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/liver-fatty-liver-disease
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