Fatty liver is one of the most common diseases today. Although this disease is completely curable, most often without therapy, but only by changing lifestyle habits, liver diseases are still a significant cause of death in the world.
If the percentage of fat in the liver exceeds 5 percent, it means that it is a fatty liver and that something should be done. The main causes of fatty liver are alcoholism, diabetes and obesity, so the first step in solving this problem is a healthier diet.
What is fatty liver?
Fatty liver or liver steatosis is the result of the accumulation of fat in the liver that exceeds 5 percent of the total weight of the liver tissue. Fatty liver has long been considered a benign condition, which does not progress to a disease, however, over time it has been shown that liver steatosis can be very serious and can lead to liver cirrhosis, writes dietx.rs.
The main causes of fatty liver are:
- nutritional causes - diabetes, obesity, starvation, disorders of fat metabolism, pancreatic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases
- drugs and toxins – alcohol, contraception, corticosteroids
- hereditary diseases - galactosemia, cystic fibrosis, Wilson's disease
- viral diseases - hepatitis C
Cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease characterized by damage to liver tissue, formation of fibrous scars and progressive deterioration of liver function, bleeding, disorders of certain brain functions, accumulated fluid in the abdomen and increased pressure in blood vessels.
It is very important to recognize the disorder before it causes more serious damage to one of the most important organs, because the liver is the body's central laboratory for processing and purifying poisons.
Main symptoms to know
Fatty liver is usually called a silent disease, because very often it is not accompanied by any symptoms, especially when the condition is in its initial stage. If the disease progresses, which takes several years or decades, some atypical signs may appear.
Symptoms of liver disease such as nausea, general weakness, impaired judgment, loss of weight and appetite, confusion or difficulty concentrating generally occur when the disease has progressed through several stages and reached the stage where a visit to the doctor is necessary. However, sufferers often do not understand these symptoms as something important, and the disease takes hold.
In addition, symptoms of fatty liver can be reflected in the form of pain in the central or upper part of the abdomen, dark spots on the skin of the neck or forearm. The most significant symptoms are an enlarged liver and liver pain.
If a fatty liver leads to cirrhosis, the consequences can be even fatal, so recognizing the first symptoms is extremely important.
As experts from the Cleveland Clinic explain, there are several symptoms that can indicate a fatty liver, and some of them appear on the face. That are:
- yellow skin or eyes,
- red skin or erythema,
- rosacea,
- capillaries on the face,
- pale skin which can be a sign of anemia.
These signs, as reported by index.hr, do not necessarily mean that a person has problems with a fatty liver, but they can very often indicate that problem.
Bonus video:
