Fatty liver, which affects 25 percent of the Spanish population, is a disease that occurs when excess fat accumulates in this organ.
In some cases, this disease affects the patient mildly with little inflammation or hepatitis. However, in other cases, it can develop as liver fibrosis and cirrhosis with the risk of suffering hepatocarcinoma.
In this sense, obesity is one of the main risk factors for fatty liver.
Even so, there are other conditioning factors, such as the following:
- Arterial hypertension
- Cardiovascular diseases
- High levels of lipids in the blood: such as cholesterol or triglycerides.
- Taking chemotherapy or antiarrhythmic drugs.
- Diabetes, especially diabetes mellitus
How is it diagnosed?
Generally, fatty liver is diagnosed casually, because in its initial stages it has no symptoms. It is made by means of a blood test and an abdominal ultrasound.
Late diagnosis occurs because the patient has liver cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, which increases the risk of mortality.
Even so, an early diagnosis usually has a good prognosis. In any case, it is advisable for obese and diabetic patients to have regular check-ups to diagnose fatty liver disease in time and to use non-invasive methods to analyze the stage of the disease.
What treatment should be followed?
The treatment consists of two simultaneous phases. On the one hand, the patient must lose weight by means of a hypocaloric diet controlled by an expert and by practicing exercise. On the other hand, the risk factors mentioned above must be treated.
There are currently no treatments aimed at eliminating liver fat specifically, but new drugs with anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and insulin-sensitizing properties are being developed.
In any case, it is important to promote healthy lifestyle habits, treat the pathologies associated with fatty liver and achieve a diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the population at risk.