Fatty Liver (Non-Alcoholic)

The liver is an important organ, and its proper functioning is crucial to keep you alive, much like the other vital organs like the heart, kidneys and the brain. It is important for metabolism, immunity, digestion, detoxification, and vitamin storage, an many other functions which the body subsists on to keep itself going.

Source: https://liverfoundation.org/about-your-liver/how-liver-diseases-progress/

The liver can be damaged by various lifestyle habits an worsened by pre-existing non-communicable metabolic disorders like Diabetes & Obesity. Liver diseases can have various warning signs, for example,

• Nausea/Vomiting

• Diffuse abdominal pain

• Jaundice

• Unexplained weight loss

• Fatigue

• Loss of appetite

• Mood changes

• Cognitive changes (ie. brain fog/difficulty concentrating/forgetfulness)

• Itchy skin (pruritus)

• unusually dark urine/pale-coloured stools

However, with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), patients are. generally asymptomatic. It is usually an incidental finding from an ultrasonography that was done for some other reasons.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-NAFLD-spectrum-stages-and-progression-from-healthy-liver-to-HCC-Steatosis-is-the_fig1_374475078

If lifestyle modifications are not done as soon as possible, NAFLD will progress into Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) which is usually irreversible and if no intervention is done, it may move on to cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

WHAT ARE THE NECESSARY MEDICAL INVESTIGATION TO BE DONE TO DIAGNOSE?

• Blood tests include,

  • Complete Blood Count

  • Inflammatory markers (ESR, CRP)

  • Liver Function Test (LFT) / Hepatic Panel

  • Lipid panel

• Ultrasonography

• Fibroscan (*this uses USG technology to measure fat deposition & extent of liver fibrosis)

• Liver Biopsy (gold standard for histopathology confirmation to comprehend the extent of damage)

RISK FACTORS

The medical community has identified that insulin resistance plays an integral role in Fatty Liver formation. Patients who have NAFLD usually have other metabolic disorders like Diabetes & Obesity, and already have an increased risk in cardiovascular diseases.

Intake of medications that are hepatotoxic (ex. tamoxifen, amiodarone, methotrexate) for a prolonged period of time also leads to the development of this disease.

The complications that can manifest with fatty liver are as follow:

• Cirrhosis

• Ascites

• Esophageal varices

• Liver failure

• Liver cancer

• Type 2 diabetes

Seek the help of your healthcare provider and get your health screening done to identify this as early as possible.