Fatty liver
is defined as an excess accumulation of fat in the liver,
usually exceeding 5 per cent of the total liver weight.
Over 50% of the excess fat deposit in the liver is
triglyceride.
Fatty liver could be a consequence of many disorders,
including viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease,
malnutrition, medication-caused liver disease, obesity,
and diabetes
Signs and Symptoms:
Fatty liver is
quiet asymptomatic or associated with very non specific
features, for eg; fatigue, nausea or right upper quadrant
discomfort.
Fat enters the
liver through diet and from fat stored in the fatty tissue.
Under normal conditions, fat from the diet is usually
metabolized by the liver and other tissues. If the amount
exceeds what is required by the body it is stored in the fatty
tissue. Eating fatty foods does not produce a fatty liver.
Diagnosis:
Blood Test
Ultrasound and
CT scan
Treatment:
Treatment of
fatty liver is related to the cause. Fat is decreased by
removal of the chemical compound or drug. Nutritional causes
are treated by altering the availability of fat coming into
the liver. This is accomplished by providing available
carbohydrates or by adding protein to overcome a complete or
large deficiency in protein needed to make lipoproteins
(proteins not capable of being dissolved in water).
