What are the symptoms of Fatty Liver Disease?
Some people may have signs of tiredness or pain in the upper abdomen in the liver area, but most have no symptoms with fatty liver disease.If you have NASH or get cirrhosis, the following symptoms may occur:
- Swollen abdomen
- Enlarged blood vessels underneath the skin
- Larger-than-normal breasts in men
- Red palms
- Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
How is Fatty Liver Disease diagnosed?
Some of the things used to diagnose fatty liver disease are:
- Health History – alcohol use, medication history, nutrition, other health conditions
- Physical exam – weight, signs of liver problems (enlarged liver or jaundice)
- Blood tests – elevated liver enzymes – aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
- Imaging tests – ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scans, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Fibroscan – determines the degree of scarring in the liver
- Liver biopsy – sample tissue is sent to lab to determine inflammation or damage
What are the causes and risk factors of Fatty Liver Disease?
The reason why some people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) get simple fatty liver while others get NASH isn’t known. NAFLD or NASH is more likely if:
- Obesity
- Insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes
- High levels of triglycerides or bad (LDL) cholesterol
- Low levels of good (HDL) cholesterol
- Older age
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Sleep apnea
- Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
- Underactive pituitary gland (hypopituitarism)
- Malnutrition
- Rapid weight loss
- Exposure to certain toxins and chemicals
- Metabolic syndrome
- Less common reasons include:
- Medical conditions that affect how fat is used and stored
- Hepatitis C or other infections
- Rapid weight loss
- Certain medications
- Gallbladder removal
For Alcohol-related fatty liver disease (ALD), the cause is too much alcohol. There is an increased risk of ALD when there is too much alcohol and:
- Obesity
- Malnutrition
- Chronic viral hepatitis – especially Hepatitis C
- Heredity
- African-American or Hispanic male
- Age – the older you are, the more likely it becomes.
What are the complications of Fatty Liver Disease?
The main complication for all types of fatty liver disease is cirrhosis or scarring of the liver. Scarring occurs when the liver tries to stop the inflammation associated with fatty liver disease. When the scarring becomes severe, the liver can’t do its job and the following may occur:
- Fluid buildup in the abdomen (ascites)
- Swollen veins in the esophagus that can burst and bleed (varices)
- Confusion and drowsiness
- Liver cancer
- Liver failure