What is fatty liver

Does everyone know about fatty liver? In today's society, there are more and more people with fatty liver. This has a lot to do with usual eating habits. Many people usually eat fish and meat frequently, drink alcohol, smoke and do not exercise, which can easily cause the formation of fatty liver. So what is fatty liver? Does everyone know about it, especially since many people now have fatty liver.

Fatty liver is now a disease that is very harmful to our health. Especially in today's society, many of our lifestyles are unscientific, especially in diet, which can easily induce fatty liver. But do you really understand what fatty liver is?

Symptoms of fatty liver

The clinical manifestations of fatty liver are diverse, and most patients have no subjective symptoms. Most patients are obese, so it is more difficult to detect mild subjective symptoms. Some people with mild fatty liver only have a feeling of fatigue, while moderate to severe fatty liver has symptoms similar to those of chronic hepatitis, including loss of appetite, fatigue, abdominal distension, belching, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and fullness and pain in the liver area or right upper abdomen. Clinical examination showed that 75% of patients had mildly enlarged livers, and a few patients had splenomegaly, spider nevi and liver palms. Because patients often have persistent or repeated elevations in transaminase levels and an enlarged liver, they can be easily misdiagnosed as hepatitis and special attention should be paid to differentiation. B-ultrasound and CT have a high diagnostic consistency rate, but the final diagnosis still depends on liver biopsy.

Causes of fatty liver

1. Alcohol is the culprit. Long-term drinking leads to alcohol poisoning, which reduces fat oxidation in the liver. Nearly 60% of chronic alcoholics develop fatty liver, and 20% to 30% will eventually develop cirrhosis.

2. Long-term intake of high-fat diet or long-term consumption of large amounts of carbohydrates such as sugar and starch will cause excessive synthesis of fat in the liver.

3. Obesity and lack of exercise cause excessive fat input into the liver.

4. Diabetes.

5. Hepatitis.

6. Acute or chronic liver damage caused by certain drugs.

What is the relationship between obesity and fatty liver?

About half of obese people suffer from fatty liver. Fatty liver, also known as hepatic steatosis, is a disease caused by excessive fat accumulation in the liver. A normal liver contains only a small amount of fat, accounting for about 4-7% of the liver volume, half of which is triglycerides and the other half is lecithin and cholesterol.

The liver is the place where fatty acids in the blood are synthesized into triglycerides, but there is not much extra space in the liver to store it. Therefore, once triglycerides are synthesized, they combine with apolipoproteins to form lipoproteins, mainly very low-density lipoproteins, and are released into the blood. However, in obese people, the balance between triglyceride synthesis and transport is disturbed. On the one hand, obese people consume more fatty acids, so the liver synthesizes more triglycerides. On the other hand, obese people have too high levels of very low-density lipoprotein in their blood, which makes it difficult for the very low-density lipoprotein synthesized in the liver to be exported into the blood, so a large amount of triglycerides accumulate in the liver, resulting in fatty liver.

After suffering from fatty liver, there may be no symptoms in the early stage. As the degree of fat accumulation increases, symptoms such as general fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, and discomfort in the liver area may gradually appear. At this time, the patient should seek medical attention. Mild and moderate fatty liver is mostly reversible. By losing weight and adjusting nutritional balance, fatty liver can be reduced or even disappear. However, if we take it lightly, it may develop into fatty liver hepatitis, and even lead to cirrhosis in the later stages, which is seriously harmful to human health.

Fatty liver is the most common disease, and more and more people are suffering from this disease. We should know more about what fatty liver is and be able to prevent fatty liver in life. We should eat a reasonable diet, exercise more, play badminton more often, etc. Do not take any medicine casually, and keep a good mood.