Fatty liver disease is an emerging pathology worldwide, both in children and adults. This disease consists of the deposit of excess fat inside the liver, especially affecting obese and/or diabetic people. Other risk factors also play a role:
- The genetic component
- Dyslipidemia
- Suffering from arterial hypertension
- Taking certain drugs such as antiarrhythmic or chemotherapy drugs.
It is estimated that up to 25% of the Spanish population suffers from hepatic steatosis. This risk increases in case of suffering diabetes mellitus, being affected between 40 and 70% of diabetic patients.
What can cause fatty liver?
- Different degrees of liver damage: from mild forms with little inflammation or hepatitis, to more serious forms such as hepatic fibrosis.
- Liver cirrhosis, with risk of developing liver cancer or hepatocarcinoma.
How to prevent and diagnose fatty liver disease?
First of all, it should be clear that the disease is usually asymptomatic during the early stages. On the other hand, in more advanced stages the patient already suffers from liver cirrhosis with the associated decompensations.
Diagnosis of the pathology is simple and is usually achieved by means of an abdominal ultrasound and a blood test. The staging or grading of the pathology can be performed by means of a liver biopsy, although this technique has recently been abandoned due to the risk of complications.
At present it is preferred to perform a Fibroscan or hepatic elastography, which makes it possible to assess the degree of hepatic fibrosis. This is a non-invasive method with several advantages, among which are its ambulatory nature and the fact that it is harmless.
If the pathology is detected at an early stage, the diagnosis is usually positive. However, in the case of advanced fibrosis, the risk of mortality increases by 10-12% 10-15 years after diagnosis. The survival of the patient is also conditioned by the other comorbidities associated with the disease, so that cardiac pathology or other types of cancer will be the next most common causes of death.
The diagnosis of hepatic steatosis, in most cases, is made causally, during the study of other pathologies. At ClÃnica Planas it is recommended to inquire about this disease and prevent it in those patients who suffer from obesity and/or diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, when hepatic steatosis is diagnosed, all cardiovascular risk factors must be taken into account, since we are dealing with two sides of the same coin.
How is fatty liver treated?
The treatment is based on controlling two areas. The first of these is the basis of treatment and consists of following a controlled hypocaloric diet, in addition to the practice of aerobic physical exercise. The aim is to reduce body weight by 7-10% to achieve histological and analytical improvement. The second is to treat metabolic risk factors when associated, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia.
At present it is not possible to offer patients a treatment specifically aimed at eliminating liver fat. For this reason, promising new drugs with anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties are in the pipeline.
The important thing is to promote healthy lifestyle habits, treat the pathologies associated with fatty liver and investigate the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the at-risk population.