A fatty liver, which is more commonly known as fatty liver disease, is the accumulation of fat around the liver. There are two types of fatty liver diseases; non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease. Despite the fact that fatty liver disease has several causes it is safe to say that fatty liver can be considered a single disease which is most often found in people who are obese or who drink to much alcohol based beverages. In most cases this condition is reversible by adapting ones diet.
Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD)
As the name suggests alcoholic liver disease is caused by excessive alcohol intake. Fatty liver can develop after drinking alcohol over a longer period of time or can even occur after a short period of heavy drinking. Some of the symptoms are weakness, nausea and anorexia.
There are several other factors that can contribute to alcoholic liver disease:
- Weight problems
- Unhealthy diet
- Hepatitis C
- Drugs or medication
- Iron overload
The best way to treat alcoholic liver disease is to stop all alcohol intake. In fact this is a mandatory condition if one want to reverse the fatty liver process. A change in diet can also help but only after consulting a doctor and a dietician. Taking medication is unnecessary and can sometimes be harmful, unless the patient has alcoholic hepatitis.
Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) can be most easily described as the accumulation of fat in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol. This type of liver disease is now the most common chronic liver disease in the United States. This condition is usually not serious and can be reversed rather easily.
A more severe type of fatty liver disease is called non alcoholic steatohepatisis (NASH). This condition is very similar to alcoholic liver disease with the big difference that people with NASH drink little or no alcohol. NASH is a serious condition as it can cause scarring of the liver, which is more commonly known as liver cirrhosis. From there this can lead to liver cancer, liver failure or any type of liver related death.
Due to unhealthy diet and poor lifestyle habits both types of fatty liver diseases are becoming more common.
Fatty Liver Causes
In alcoholic fatty liver disease the cause is of course excessive alcohol intake. In non alcoholic fatty liver disease, what happens is the liver cannot break down fats anymore, causing it to build up in the liver tissue. Although doctors aren’t exactly sure what the cause is, here are a few factors that may contribute to fatty liver disease:
- Poor and unhealthy diet
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Triglycerides
- Celiac disease
- Medications or drugs
- Oxidative stress
- Malnutrition
- Rapid weight loss
Fatty Liver Disease Symptoms
In most cases a fatty liver has no symptoms or causes no discomfort, if the disease advances it can however start showing the following signs:
- Anorexia or loss of appetite
- Pain in the upper right abdomen due to enlarged liver
- Nausea
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Mental issues like confusion, loss of focus and poor memory
If the fatty liver disease gets worse and progresses to liver cirrhosis the following symptoms can occur:
- Itchy skin
- Jaundice
- Internal bleeding
- Liver failure
Fatty Liver Treatment
The treatment of a fatty liver always depends on what’s causing it and in most cases, if you take away the cause it can reverse the process of fatty liver disease. If alcohol is the cause, then stop drinking and if obesity is the cause it’s best to change your diet.
It’s always essential to consult is doctor and a dietician if you need to change your diet. A fatty liver diet will usually be recommended as a proper way to treat fatty liver disease. Since you can’t really treat fatty liver with medication, because that would only put more pressure on the liver, and since processed foods can also strain the liver it’s usually advisable to alter your eating habits.
A good fatty liver diet plan can also be found in the fatty liver diet guide.
