A physical examination revealed mild fatty liver. What if I ignore it?

How did you feel when you were diagnosed with fatty liver during a physical examination?

Should I eat and drink? Or should I be worried, change my ways, and live a regular life? I think most people don’t take it seriously! Some even think: Many people have this disease, so why should I be afraid if it doesn’t hurt?

In fact, fatty liver has many harmful effects and can even significantly increase a person’s risk of death.

A study published in the top gastrointestinal journal "GUT" in 2020 found that compared with the control group, patients with fatty liver had a 93% increased risk of all-cause mortality, and even for mild fatty liver, the risk of all-cause mortality increased by 71%!

So what is the cause of fatty liver disease, which is not taken seriously? I will tell you about it today.

Normally, a healthy liver should have less than 5% fat.

When the amount of fat exceeds 5%, it is mild fatty liver;

More than 10% is moderate fatty liver;

More than 25% has severe fatty liver.

The fatty liver described on the ultrasound report during the physical examination generally refers to simple fatty liver, that is, the liver cells undergo fatty degeneration due to fat accumulation, which eventually forms fatty degeneration of the liver. Figuratively speaking, the liver cells are enlarged by fat.

The mild, moderate and severe severity indicated by B-ultrasound refers to the degree to which liver cells are enlarged.

When liver cells are stretched to a certain extent, they may rupture and necrotize, causing liver damage, which is commonly known as fatty liver hepatitis.

If not treated in time, the liver may further develop into fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually liver cancer. When the liver has problems, its corresponding metabolism, conversion, and detoxification functions will also be affected, and metabolic syndrome will occur, which may induce diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Most cases of fatty liver are asymptomatic, and only a very small number of people will experience symptoms such as fatigue, drowsiness, and dry and bitter mouth.

It doesn't hurt or itch, so it's easy to be ignored.

However, B-ultrasound can only observe the "enlarged" state of liver cells, so if you want to know more about the liver condition, you need to do a blood test and pay attention to whether the liver function transaminase is elevated:

Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) indicates liver damage has occurred;

Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) also indicates liver damage;

Glutamine transpeptidase (GGT): It often increases along with ALT and AST. If only GGT increases, the danger level is not as great as the first two, but it still needs to be taken seriously.

Many liver diseases may cause these three indicators to increase, so once they increase, you should be alert and go to a professional hospital for treatment.

01

Obese people

Obesity is the main cause of fatty liver. Since the degree of fat accumulation in the liver is positively correlated with body weight, the fatter you are, the more likely you are to develop fatty liver.

02

People who like to drink

People who drink alcohol for a long time are prone to alcoholic fatty liver. According to statistical analysis, the incidence of alcoholic fatty liver increases 5 to 25 times for people who drink more than 80 to 160 grams of alcohol per day.

03

Diabetic patients

Statistics show that about 58% of diabetic patients may develop fatty liver.

04

Malnourished people

Malnutrition caused by insufficient food intake, digestive disorders, etc. will lead to protein deficiency in the body and the liver's inability to combine apolipoproteins (a tool for transporting fat), which can easily cause fat to accumulate in the liver.

05

People who lose weight quickly

Excessive dieting, eating only vegetarian food, frantic exercise or other measures to lose weight quickly may result in insufficient sugar in the body to break down, leading to a large increase in fat breakdown in a short period of time.

Nowadays, the incidence of fatty liver among many beauty-loving girls is showing a rapid growth trend, which is mostly related to too fast and too hasty weight loss.

06

Drug abusers

Drugs entering the body need to be detoxified by the liver. Certain drugs or chemical poisons such as tetracycline, lipid-lowering drugs, health products, arsenic, lead, silver, mercury, etc. can damage the liver and interfere with lipoprotein metabolism. Therefore, long-term abuse will increase the risk of drug-induced fatty liver.

Depending on the different inducing factors, appropriate measures should be taken, such as:

Patients with alcoholic fatty liver should abstain from alcohol;

Patients with diabetes and fatty liver should effectively control blood sugar;

Patients with malnutrition-induced fatty liver should increase their nutrition appropriately;

Patients with drug-induced fatty liver should stop taking medication.

Fatty liver caused by obesity requires weight loss and exercise.

Finally, I would like to say: mild and severe fatty liver need equal attention.

Due to different personal constitutions, some people's liver cells may rupture and cause liver damage if they are slightly enlarged, while some people still have simple fatty liver even if the condition is severe.

Therefore, once fatty liver is discovered, it is necessary to carefully adjust your lifestyle and have regular checkups to observe the effects of the intervention and monitor the progression of the disease.