Early Signs of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) (2024)

FAQs

Early Signs of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)? ›

Initial evaluation

If a person consumes these levels of alcohol daily, their AFLD may progress to cirrhosis in 10–12 years. People with NAFLD may develop NASH and NAFLD-related cirrhosis over 3–6 years . However, a person's risk depends on multiple factors, including: diabetes.

If NASH cirrhosis is diagnosed early, the life expectancy is about 10 to 15 years. However, if you develop complications such as swelling or fluid in the abdomen, confusion, or bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, life expectancy decreases dramatically to three to five years without a liver transplant.

If you have NAFLD without any other medical problems, you don't need any special treatment. But making some lifestyle changes can control or reverse the fat buildup in your liver.

Meanwhile, many studies have shown that smoking [9], physical inactivity [10], sedentary behavior [11,12], higher weight [13] and an unhealthy diet [14] were individually related to an increased risk of NAFLD.

NAFLD has several phases of progression, which include simple steatosis, steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately could even progress to hepatocellular carcinoma.

The main stages of NAFLD are: simple fatty liver (steatosis) – a largely harmless build-up of fat in the liver cells that may only be diagnosed during tests carried out for another reason. non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – a more serious form of NAFLD, where the liver has become inflamed.

Green tea

One review of multiple studies suggests that green tea can help protect against all liver disease. Another study shows that EGCG — a specific catechin in green tea — can protect your liver if you have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Fibrosis progresses at a speed of 0.07 stages/year in NAFL and 0.14 stages/year in NASH, so NAFL progresses by 1 stage every 14 years and NASH by 1 stage every 7 years (4).

If your midsection looks like a pot and your arms and legs are rather thin, you're likely to have a LIVER body type or liver belly.

What are the 5 liver super foods? ›

Losing at least 3% to 5% of your body weight can reduce fat in the liver. You may need to lose up to 7% to 10% of your body weight to reduce liver inflammation and fibrosis. Physical activity alone, even without weight loss, is also beneficial. Doctors recommend gradually losing weight to improve NAFLD.

At its most severe, a fatty liver may develop into cirrhosis, which causes permanent liver damage. The liver may become enlarged or shrink, liver cells are replaced by scar tissue, and the liver cannot function properly. Cirrhosis can be fatal and is typically the final stage before a transplant becomes necessary.

In NAFLD, too much fat builds up in the liver. It is seen most often in people who are overweight or obese. NAFLD is becoming more common, especially in Middle Eastern and Western nations as the number of people with obesity rises. It is the most common form of liver disease in the world.

The leading cause of death in individuals with NAFLD is cardiovascular disease (summarized in Table 2), followed by extra-hepatic cancer and then liver-related mortality (summarized in Table 3) [12,15].

The incidence rate of NAFLD increased in a stepwise manner with age, 11.7%, 15.9%, 21.5% and 22.8% in the 20–34, 35–49, 50–64 and over-65-year-old groups, respectively (P < 0.001). The incidence of NAFLD was highest in the 35–49-year-old group in men (23.5%) and in over-65-years-old group in women (23.4%) (Fig. 1B).

Patients can live for many years with NAFLD, but many – about 30% – eventually end up with an inflamed liver or NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), and scarring. Of these, about 20% will develop end-stage cirrhosis, which can lead to liver failure and cancer.

Possible symptoms of NASH and cirrhosis, or severe scarring, include: Itchy skin. Abdominal swelling, also called ascites (uh-SY-tee*z). Shortness of breath.

Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver's cells. Alcohol-related cirrhosis usually develops after 10 or more years of heavy drinking. Women who drink heavily are more likely to get liver damage than men, partly because of their different size and build.