Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease, is one of the most common liver disorder in the world, is a condition in which there is a buildup of fat (fatty infiltration) in the liver. Main risk factors are obesity and overweight. It is referred to as Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease that itself is a benign condition, however if there is liver inflammation, associated with the fatty infiltration, the disease called Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and can be scar tissue formation leading to long-term liver damage. NASH is associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol as well as some drugs and toxins.

Often patients are diagnosed with these conditions when an ultrasound done for some other purpose demonstrates fatty infiltration of the liver or blood tests looking at liver function demonstrate some signs of inflammation. When this condition is suspected, we check for various diseases that cause chronic liver damage and often send patients to have a test called a fibroscan that can assess for scarring and inflammation in the liver in a non-invasive fashion. At this time, there is unfortunately no highly effective treatment for NASH other than weight loss. It should be noted that the weight loss should be gradual (1-2 kgs/week) as rapid weight loss can actually contribute to liver damage. We do follow our NASH patients closely as unfortunately this condition can progress to liver cirrhosis.