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All About Fatty Liver Diseases: Types, Symptoms, Causes, & Diagnosis

It is one of the common diseases caused by an excess of fat in the liver. A healthy liver doesn’t have a large amount of fat. It becomes an issue when fat accounts for 5% to 10% of your liver’s weight. Fatty liver disease does not usually cause any serious problems, but it can worsen over time in up to 30% of people. It goes through three stages in these people:

• The liver becomes inflamed, causing tissue damage. Steatohepatitis is the medical term for this stage.
• Scar tissue develops where your liver is injured. Fibrosis is the medical term for this process.
• Scar tissue replaces healthy tissue on a large scale. The stage is called Cirrhosis.

If you want to get liver function tests, visit Matrix Diagnostic center. In this blog article, we are discussing the types, symptoms, causes, and diagnosis of fatty liver disease.

Types of fatty liver disease

1. Excessive alcohol consumption causes alcoholic fatty liver disease. The majority of the alcohol you consume is broken down and excreted by your liver. However, the process of breaking it down can result in the release of harmful substances. These substances can harm liver cells, cause inflammation, and weaken your body’s natural defenses. The more you drink, the more harm you do to your liver. Alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most severe form of alcohol-related liver disease. The following stages are cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis.
2. A fatty liver disease that is not caused by excessive alcohol consumption is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). There are two kinds:

• Simple fatty liver is defined by the presence of fat in the liver but little or no inflammation or damage to the liver cells. In most cases, the simple fatty liver does not progress to the point where it causes liver damage or complications.
• Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is characterized by inflammation, liver cell damage, and fat accumulation in the liver. Liver cell damage and inflammation can lead to scarring or fibrosis of the liver. NASH can cause liver cancer or cirrhosis.

Symptoms

Fatty liver disease causes no symptoms until it progresses to cirrhosis of the liver. If you have the following symptoms there is a great chance of developing the disease:

• Have a feeling of fullness or pain in the upper right side of the abdomen
• Nausea, appetite loss, or weight loss
• Mental confusion and extreme exhaustion
• Yellowish skin and eye whites
• Swollen legs and abdomen
• Weakness

Causes

Excess fat is stored in liver cells and accumulates in fatty liver disease. This fat buildup can be caused by a number of factors.

Too much alcohol consumption can result in AFLD. Heavy alcohol consumption can disrupt certain metabolic processes in the liver. Some of these metabolic products can combine with fatty acids to form fat types that can accumulate in the liver.

The cause of fatty liver disease is less clear in people who do not consume a lot of alcohol. It is possible that these people’s bodies produce too much fat or do not metabolize fat efficiently enough.

Obesity, insulin resistance, high levels of fat, and metabolic syndrome may all play a role in people who don’t drink much alcohol but develop fatty liver disease.

Other possible causes of fatty liver are:

• Infections such as hepatitis C
• Pregnancy
• Medication side effect
• Certain rare genetic conditions 

Diagnosis

Inform your doctor if you have a loss of appetite, fatigue, or other unexplained symptoms.

Blood tests

Fatty liver disease is often diagnosed after diagnostic blood tests reveal elevated liver enzymes. To check your liver enzymes, your doctor may order the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) tests.

These tests may be recommended by your doctor if you’ve developed signs or symptoms of liver disease, or they may be ordered as part of routine blood work.

Elevated liver enzymes indicate liver inflammation. Fatty liver disease is one possible cause of liver inflammation, but it is far from the only one.

If your liver enzyme levels are elevated, your doctor will most likely order additional tests to determine the cause of the inflammation.

Liver biopsy

It is widely accepted as the most accurate method of determining the severity of liver disease. A doctor will insert a needle into your stomach and remove a piece of tissue for examination during a liver biopsy. It aids in determining how far advanced the liver disease has progressed.

Imaging examinations

To determine the exact nature of the liver disease, your doctor will use imaging tests such as CT scans, MRI scans, and others. To check for excess fat or other problems with your liver, your doctor may use one or more of the imaging tests listed below.

• CT scan 
• MRI scan 
• Ultrasound exam 

If you are having any risk factors, get yourself tested at the top diagnostic center in Hyderabad. Matrix is always here to help you with our latest and advanced technology and equipment. Our skilled and experienced staff will guide you before, during, and after the procedure.