Fatty hepatosis is a very insidious pathology that can be completely asymptomatic for a long time. But with a timely diagnosis and competent therapy, it is almost always possible to avoid serious irreversible consequences. And for this you need to know how to recognize a fatty liver, and how to properly treat it.
What is this disease
Our liver is a unique organ that has the ability to regenerate. It is due to this that it can work for a long time even under increased loads. Unfortunately, people often abuse these properties, constantly overloading the liver. As a result, the organ loses its ability to regenerate. Gradually, dangerous abnormal changes in the structure of the liver appear. The early stage of such changes is often fatty liver.
What is he? Fatty liver, which is also called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is a pathology in which more than 5% of the weight of an organ consists of fat.
This disease is associated with abnormalities in the metabolic processes occurring in the liver. With thispathology, normal cells of the organ are slowly filled with products of fat metabolism, gradually they turn into adipose tissue. Physicians often call this disease fatty liver. At first, the pathological process is very slow. But as the disease progresses, the fatty liver ceases to cope with its work, because of which all other organs begin to suffer.
Causes of pathology
The trigger mechanism lies in the violation of fat metabolism. And this could be due to a number of factors. The main among them is an improper, unbalanced diet, in which a person regularly loads the body with an excessive amount of preservatives, fats, and various food additives. It is because of overeating that excess weight appears, and in some cases even obesity.
True, despite this, a fatty liver can become in thin people. Typically, these patients have failures in carbohydrate metabolism and an acute protein deficiency. This condition is often experienced by vegetarians and those who torture the body with strict diets.
In addition, there are a number of other conditions, in the presence of which the development of fatty hepatosis is not excluded.
The following factors can provoke the disease:
- abuse of alcohol, drugs;
- extra pounds;
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failures in metabolic processes in diabetes mellitus;
- increased liver enzymes;
- some viruses such as hepatitis C and B;
- hereditary pathologies,associated with abnormal urea cycles and fat oxidation;
- taking certain medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- genetic factors;
- oxygen deficiency in heart and lung defects;
- hypodynamia;
- arterial hypertension;
- atherosclerosis;
- prolonged contact with toxic, poisonous substances, such as pesticides, industrial solutions, gasoline.
In parallel, the patient develops diabetes and increases the amount of lipids in the blood. At the same time, the risk of cardiovascular defects increases significantly.
The disease is based on insulin resistance and failures in metabolic processes, most often carbohydrate and lipid. Fatty liver disease occurs when too much fatty acid is taken in.
Risk group
People who regularly abuse alcohol, take hormonal drugs or antibiotics for a long time, as well as those who work in hazardous industries, such as chemists, painters, miners and metallurgists, are more likely to become a victim of fatty hepatosis. Fans of quick snacks and street fast food are at increased risk of developing the disease, because such food contains a huge amount of all kinds of additives that overload the liver.
People leading a sedentary lifestyle are also at risk. And all becausethat in the organs of a person who constantly sits, fluid stagnation is formed. This phenomenon, in turn, provokes the development of pathogenic microflora that poisons the liver and the entire body.
Among other things, the risk group includes people with pathologies of the digestive tract associated with the absorption of lipids and the production of bile. An equally important role in fatty changes in the liver is played by endocrine diseases, especially diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, deficiency of certain hormones.
What is dangerous pathology
If the treatment of fatty liver is not started in time, the symptoms of the disease will progress and eventually develop into cirrhosis. In the last 30 years, it is this pathology that most often leads to the development of cirrhosis and the need for transplantation.
For many years, fatty liver was considered a benign disease, but over time it became clear that with this pathology, the risks of developing cardiovascular defects and diabetes mellitus increase significantly.
The prevalence of fatty liver is about 20-25%, and among overweight people - about 90%. Most often, the disease appears at the age of 40-60 years. It is much more common among women.
Fatty liver symptoms
Treatment of this pathology is most often delayed for one simple reason: the disease is asymptomatic. Especially when it comes to the initial stage. But over time, a change in the liver by the type of fatty hepatosis still betrays itself, and the person begins to reveal some signs of the disease.
Usuallypatients complain about:
- discomfort in the right hypochondrium;
- enlargement of the liver, its abnormal protrusion;
- bitter in the mouth;
- nausea;
- a feeling of heaviness in the corresponding area.
Specific changes can be detected by ultrasound.
Diagnosis
The main way to detect diffuse changes in the liver by fatty type is ultrasound. Which allows you to evaluate not only the size of the body, but also its structure. But ultrasound shows the presence of adipose tissue only if it occupies more than 30% of the liver.
Indirect elastometry, performed on the new generation device "Fibrascan", is considered to be a more informative and accurate method of examination. This technique allows you to quickly and without tissue injury to detect changes in the liver by the type of fatty hepatosis. During such an examination, pathology can be detected, even if the volume of adipose tissue does not exceed 5%. It may even save a patient's life.
How to treat fatty liver
Hepatosis therapy is really difficult, but necessary. Fatty liver treatment is aimed at removing excess lipids from the damaged organ and stabilizing metabolic processes. Only in this way can a full recovery be achieved.
Whatever the cause of a fatty liver, treatment must begin with a change in the patient's lifestyle. During therapyhepatosis needed:
- lower weight, get rid of extra pounds;
- remove fatty and fried foods, carbonated drinks and alcohol from the daily menu;
- exercise regularly;
- take prescribed medication;
- completely switch to a balanced, he althy diet.
Fatty liver is treated by endocrinologists and hepatologists. The first specialist deals with the elimination of the initial causes of the pathology, and the second - the consequences of their influence.
If you've already been diagnosed, don't give up. Timely therapy and competent intervention can improve the prognosis of such an insidious disease.
The main symptom of a fatty liver is the accumulation of fat particles in its cells. But do not forget that this body has a unique ability to recover. So the state of hepatosis can be reversible, at least partially. True, only under the condition that efforts are made by the patient himself and there are no serious chronic liver pathologies.
Drug therapy
For the treatment of hepatosis, the first step is to eliminate the provoking factors that lead to a weakening of the liver and disruption of its work. The most important thing in therapy is diet in combination with physical education. But with such a diagnosis, certain medications are also indispensable.
A variety of drugs can be prescribed for hepatosis: to eliminate the symptoms of a fatty liver, disorders in the process of digestion and absorption,restoration of the organ and normalization of the functions of the biliary system.
Most often in therapy doctors use:
- lipotropic drugs that stabilize lipid metabolism - lipoic acid, vitamin B12, "Lipocaine", "Essentiale", "Methionine";
- means designed to normalize blood flow - B vitamins and folic acid;
- steroids that increase protein production - "Retabolil", "Methandrostenolone";
- hepatoprotectors - "Ripazon", "Prohepar", "Urosal", "Sirepar";
- Essential phospholipids that contain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids.
Basics of Nutrition
In the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver, a balanced, proper diet comes to the fore. A therapeutic diet helps to eliminate the initial causes of the disease and prevent its further progress.
For patients with this diagnosis, it is very important to adhere to the rules of fractional nutrition - meals should occur at least 5 times a day, but in small portions, the size of a fist. It is equally important to observe the drinking regime - during the day you need to drink at least one and a half liters of water. All this is necessary to activate the metabolism, which will help the liver to be in good shape - so it will not overwork and deposit harmful lipids.
What is forbidden
With a fatty liver, any alcohol, energy and carbonated drinks should be excluded from the dietdrinks, caffeine. In addition, under a categorical ban fall:
- sausages and smoked meats;
- canned foods;
- spicy, greasy and fried foods;
- rich fatty soups and broths;
- fatty meats and fish;
- offal;
- mushrooms;
- spicy spices
What is useful
It is recommended to eat as many foods rich in vegetable fiber as possible, fresh and boiled vegetables, vegetable stews and salads.
The therapeutic diet for liver diseases cannot do without cucumbers, cabbage, pumpkins, carrots, zucchini, beets.
As for cereals, it is best to give preference to rice, buckwheat, oatmeal. You can add lean meats and fish, seafood, borscht, pickles, soups to the diet, but cooked in lean broths.
You can eat a maximum of 4 eggs during the week, the amount of cheese should be moderate. Bread should be chosen from wholemeal flour. Greens are very useful - lettuce, dill, parsley, as well as all kinds of teas and decoctions from rose hips, mountain ash, lemon balm, mint. All dishes must be baked, stewed, boiled or steamed.
Sample menu
In general, the menu should be balanced and comply with all the rules:
- Need to reduce the amount of saturated fat in the diet. In other words, you should refuse trans fats, which are formed during the frying process,margarine, red meat, coconut and palm oil.
- Reduce the volume in the menu of simple sugars - juices, jams, soft drinks.
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Increase your intake of monounsaturated fatty acids found in nuts, soy, olive oil, sunflower seeds. The same goes for polyunsaturated fatty acids - they can be found in flax seeds, sea fish and lettuce.
Therapeutic diet for fatty liver - Add oligofructose to the diet, which is a probiotic and has a positive effect on the microflora of the digestive tract. This carbohydrate also has a positive effect on lipid and blood sugar levels, and also has an anti-inflammatory effect. You can find a miracle substance in chicory, leeks, garlic, artichokes, asparagus.
On the road to recovery, a sample menu for a fatty liver for a week will help you:
- Monday. Breakfast - oatmeal soup, rye bread and a slice of cheese. The second breakfast is a pear. Lunch - rice, fish meatballs, compote. Snack - a glass of skimmed milk with a few crusts of crackers. Dinner - vinaigrette, boiled egg, kefir and a little dried apricots.
- Tuesday. Breakfast - semolina porridge with strawberry jam, milkshake with muesli. Lunch - fat-free cottage cheese with fresh berries or sour cream. Lunch - a glass of milk, rice soup, a roll of dietary meat. Snack - salad of grated carrots. Dinner - beetroot salad with nuts and dried fruits, cabbage rolls with rice and chicken, weak green tea.
- Wednesday. Breakfast - pancakes from semolina and raisins, berry pudding from cottage cheese, tea with milk. Lunch - fresh fruit puree. Lunch - buckwheat soup, a piece of beef, cucumber and cabbage salad. Snack - baked apple with honey. Dinner - pike perch baked in sour cream, mashed potatoes or rice porridge.
- Thursday. Breakfast - syrniki with dried apricots, a portion of buckwheat, rosehip broth, a piece of cheese. Lunch - carrot juice, a portion of fat-free cottage cheese. Lunch - fish fillet baked in sour cream, pumpkin porridge and green tea without sugar, you can add honey. Snack - omelet from two eggs with milk. Dinner - boiled or stewed cabbage, rice, apple juice.
- Friday. Breakfast - scrambled eggs with vegetables, carrot salad and a piece of cheese, apple juice or compote. Lunch - yogurt, any fruit. Lunch - lean soup with zucchini, steamed cod, a glass of skim milk. Snack - rice or semolina pudding. Dinner - chicken casserole, weak black tea, marshmallows.
- Saturday. Breakfast - oatmeal in milk, low-fat cottage cheese with pomegranate, jelly from berries. Lunch - boiled cabbage with rice, a glass of yogurt. Lunch - beetroot soup, beef cutlet, buckwheat, pear juice. Snack - applesauce with carrots. Dinner - baked beef, stewed cabbage with carrots, berry juice.
- Sunday. Breakfast - an omelet from two eggs, a serving of cottage cheese with grated fruit, a milkshake with berries. Lunch - vinaigrette and a piece of boiled fish. Lunch - fish cutlets, mashed potatoes, vegetable salad, compote. Snack - pasta casserole with vegetables and cheese, herbal decoctionwith honey. Dinner - fish soup, pumpkin and apple salad, a glass of skim milk.
Among other things, try to avoid the consumption of foods containing monosodium glutamate. This component increases the risk of developing fatty hepatosis. It also causes inflammation and increases blood lipid levels.
This diet allows you to alleviate the signs of a fatty liver, normalize lipid levels, prevent further progression of the disease and reduce the severity of inflammation. In addition, such a diet helps to get rid of excess weight. But starving with such a disease is not recommended.
Therapeutic exercise
Patients diagnosed with "fatty hepatosis" should not resort to power loads and lean on dumbbells, it is also useless to exhaust yourself with cardio workouts. For starters, a moderate load is enough, for example, walking for half an hour. After some time, you can enter minor cardio workouts. So you can gradually strengthen the muscles and normalize the consumption of calories. With fatty liver disease, systematic training, even without getting rid of extra pounds, will help improve the condition of the damaged organ.
But you should understand that the correct weight loss is no more than 0.5 kilograms during the week. But sudden weight loss entails a massive breakdown of fats, due to which the flow of free fatty acids into the affected organ increases. As a result, instead of improvingescalate.
Features of therapy
Often fatty hepatosis arises against the background of diabetes. In such a situation, it is very important to understand that the treatment of the disease will simply be meaningless without controlling the underlying pathology and blood sugar levels. In advanced cases, therapy should be carried out under the constant supervision of a specialist.
It's no secret that minerals and vitamins play an important role in overall he alth and even well-being. According to doctors, many of them play a significant role both in the prevention and in the complex therapy of fatty hepatosis. For example, B vitamins help to neutralize and remove toxins and other harmful substances from the body, improve digestion and lower blood cholesterol.
Among all the B vitamins, it is worth highlighting B4-choline. This element is involved in the movement and metabolism of lipids in the liver.
Do not forget about vitamins C and E, which are natural antioxidants. These substances effectively fight free radicals.
Due to the fact that the fatty liver often does not manifest itself, you should systematically visit a specialist and undergo appropriate examinations. And during treatment, it is very important to follow all the doctor's instructions.
