Fatty Liver

Fatty Liver

You may have reached this page after a health professional has talked you through blood results, particularly ones looking at your liver function, and they have advised you you have a fatty liver.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. It is usually seem in people who are overweight or obese.

Having high levels of fat in your liver is also associated with an increased risk of serious health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.

If detected and managed at an early stage, it is possible to stop NAFLD getting worse, and reduce the amount of fat in your liver.

Left untreated, there are a small number of cases which progress and eventually lead to liver damage.  This is why it is important to take steps to reverse the changes once detected.

Main stages of NAFLD are:

1. Simple fatty liver – largely a harmless build up of fat in the liver cells, sometimes picked up during routine blood tests carried out for another reason
2. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – this is a more serious form of NAFLD which can cause inflammation of the liver
3. Fibrosis – this is where persistent inflammation can cause scar tissue around the liver and nearby blood vessels. The liver is able to function normally at this stage.
4. Cirrhosis – the most severe stage which occurs after years of inflammation. The liver shrinks and becomes scarred; the damage is permanent and can lead to liver failure when the liver stops working properly.

So what can I do?

We can each optimise our own metabolic health, improve or reverse fatty liver and feel better, by looking at different aspects of lifestyle.