Hey guys, my name is Dr. Sam.
Now today I'm gonna cover everything you need to
know about fatty liver disease.
Particularly, what are the common symptoms
and treatments for fatty liver.
It's a very common condition and there
are some important tips that you might
not know.
So, if you keep watching I'll fill you all in!
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What is fatty liver?
Fatty liver disease is a condition where fat builds up in
your liver.
It is broken up into two main
groups: alcoholic fatty liver disease and
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a
very common condition.
It affects about 20% of people in the world.
What does fatty liver do to the body?
The presence of extra fat in the liver can
cause chronic irritation of the liver
cells and subsequently can lead to
further liver damage.
If it is not treated, this can cause liver failure,
liver cancer and eventually the need for
a liver transplant.
What causes fatty liver?
Alcoholic fatty liver disease only happens in people who
are heavy drinkers of alcohol.
In non-alcoholic fatty liver disease there
are three common causes.
People who are overweight, people who have diabetes
and patients with high cholesterol.
Keep in mind, that even people who have a normal
body weight can still have Fatty Liver Disease.
What are the symptoms of fatty liver?
Early on many patients have no
symptoms, however as the inflammation and
scarring of the liver happens, people may
notice that they feel more tired and
have a discomfort in their upper right
side of the abdomen.
How is fatty liver diagnosed?
Your doctor may suspect that
you have fatty liver if you get some
abnormal liver function blood test
results back that were done for another reason.
Imaging modalities are usually used to
confirm the diagnosis.
This can be done with ultrasound, CT scan or MRI scan.
Occasionally, patients may need a liver
biopsy done to work out exactly how much
damage has been done to the liver.
What are the treatments for fatty liver?
Thankfully, fatty liver disease is
completely reversible in the early stages.
However, there is no specific treatment
for fatty liver disease.
I usually advise my patients to control
their blood sugars and high cholesterol
with medications, to lose weight
especially if they are obese.
The most important part for patients who have
alcoholic fatty liver disease is
to stop drinking alcohol.
What can happen if I don't treat fatty liver?
Too much fat in the liver can lead to complete
scarring of the liver or what we call
in medical terms "sclerosis" and
eventually this can lead to liver failure.
If you carry on down that
trajectory it will cause liver cancer
and the eventual need for a liver transplant.
What foods should I avoid with fatty liver?
Well, it's not all doom and gloom.
The most important foods to avoid are:
foods that are rich in refined sugars.
Specifically, bread, corn, potatoes and rice.
It's also important to
eat lean meat and to increase the
amounts of salads and
vegetables in your diet.
What about coffee?
If you are a coffee drinker I have great news!
Studies have clearly shown a benefit of drinking
coffee in patients who already have
liver disease.
There have been some suggestions that
drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day
will prevent liver cancer and liver scarring
in patients who already have Fatty liver disease.
Thanks for watching!
I hope you found some of this information useful.
If you'd like to learn more,
please check out some of my other health videos.