What is fatty liver disease?
What is fatty liver disease?
Liver is the largest organ inside the body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Fatty liver disease is a condition in which fat builds up in your liver. There are two main types, which are Alcoholic fatty liver disease and Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Alcoholic fatty liver disease is caused by prolonged drinking. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is due to bad eating habits such as high fat, high sugar and obesity. Both NAFLD and alcoholic fatty liver disease are usually silent diseases with few or no symptoms. Fatty liver is easy to have inflammation in which can cause fibrosis or scarring of the liver, even endanger your health. According of the Centre for Health Protection in 2015s, the data shows that 1/4 Hongkongers has fatty liver disease.
Non-obese people also may suffer from fatty liver disease. The study of HKU medical faculty mentioned that 1/5 non-obese people has non-alcoholic fatty liver, and 26% of them have developed severe liver fibrosis. The study also found that non-obese people with hyperglycemia and central obesity are more likely to have fatty liver. If the problem does not improve, 15-25% of patients will develop liver fibrosis or cirrhosis, and the chance of suffering from liver cancer is higher than the people who have not the fatty liver.
Self-assessment
The higher BMI (overweight/obesity) was significantly associated with fatty liver risk. If the BMI is close to 22-23 and exceeds the specific waistline (male:90cm; female:80cm), the risk of having a fatty liver will increase 10% when the waistline increased 1cm. To reduce the risk of developing fatty liver, we recommend that people should build up a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight and do exercise. Also, the most important is need to do a health check regularly. Learn More Body Check Package
Possible signs and symptoms of fatty liver:
• Abdominal swelling (ascites), Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), Fatigue, Enlarged blood vessels just beneath the skin's surface, etc.
How is fatty liver disease diagnosed?
The risk and the scale of the fatty liver can be tested by blood test, liver ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. Blood tests can show the number of certain enzymes. If people get fatty liver, the number of certain enzymes would be high. Moreover, ultrasound is the common use for checking the liver in the early period. It uses soundwaves to get a picture of your liver and check the location of Liposarcoma, which can assess the severity of fatty liver. Learn More Body Check Package
What is fatty liver disease?