Hepatic steatosis: what it is, symptoms and treatment

Hepatic steatosis is the accumulation of fat in the liver that can appear due to the increase of lipids in the hepatic cells either because of obesity, hepatic disorders or excessive alcohol consumption.

A pathology of the liver can be very painful.

Prognosis of the disease

Untreated hepatic steatosis can lead to a number of problems such as fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and even liver cancer.

Symptoms of hepatic steatosis

Hepatic steatosis may have the following symptoms:

Fatigue
Pain in the upper abdomen
Abdominal swelling
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Drowsiness
Weight loss

Medical tests for hepatic steatosis

In order to diagnose whether or not we have hepatic steatosis we can perform several tests. These can be:

A blood test
An abdominal ultrasound
A CAT scan and an MRI
A hepatic elastography

However, the definitive test to establish the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis is a liver biopsy.

What are the causes of hepatic steatosis?

There are a number of causes that can give us hepatic steatosis. These can be:

Overweight
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
Abnormal accumulations of fats in the blood.
Metabolic syndromes
Excessive alcohol consumption

Read Now 👉 pudendal nerve entrapment

Is it preventable?

Hepatic steatosis can be prevented by modifying our lifestyle in several aspects, such as, for example:

Not consuming alcohol
Losing weight and/or maintaining an adequate weight
Regular exercise
Eating a balanced diet
Taking Omega 3 supplements

Treatments for hepatic steatosis

There are no medications that treat hepatic steatosis, but certain measures can be taken once we have been diagnosed.

Losing weight, which helps to reduce liver inflammation.
Change your diet, which helps the liver to recover.
Stop drinking alcohol, the most important part of the treatment.

Which specialist treats it?

A specialist in Endocrinology is the one who can treat and diagnose a case of hepatic steatosis.

What is hepatic steatosis?