Liver parenchymal cells, with the function of synthesizing and metabolizing sugars, proteins, fats, if the synthesis of fat increases, and can not be transported out of the liver in time, it may be deposited in the liver, when more than 5% of the liver parenchymal cells appear fat deposition, it is called fatty liver.
When it comes to fatty liver, people may think that this is the "patent" of some fat people, but it is not.
While it is true that overweight people are at higher risk of developing fatty liver disease, the relationship between weight and fatty liver is not absolute.
01 Weight standards, lean may also suffer from fatty liver
This may be related to several reasons:
Less adipose tissue of its own
We can understand adipose tissue as a "warehouse" for storing fat, some thin, normal weight people, their own adipose tissue is less, once the excess heat, excess fat appears in the body, it can only be placed in the "warehouse" outside the organs, the liver bears the brunt, it is easy to form fatty liver.
Low muscle content on its own
Although the weight is normal, but the muscle content is small, such as sarcopenia patients, the same weight, muscle less fat content is more, but also prone to fatty liver.
Insulin resistance is present
That is, the body's insulin sensitivity decreases, which is easy to cause blood sugar to rise, excess sugar will be converted into fat, which is more likely to lead to fat deposition in the liver, the emergence of fatty liver.
Weight gain is too fast in a short period of time
People who are normally low in weight but have gained more than 3% in 6-12 months, or who have a normal weight but have a rapid waist circumference (80 cm for women > and> 85 cm for men), may also have fatty liver in people with abdominal obesity.
Insufficient apolipoprotein
Apolipoproteins can bind and transport blood lipids, and if the apolipoprotein is insufficient to transport the fat synthesized by the liver, it may lead to fat accumulation in the liver, and fatty liver diseases appear, which is common in some chronic wasting diseases.
02 Alcohol consumption is related to fatty liver but not absolutely
Although there is a category of fatty liver is alcoholic fatty liver, this does not mean that drinking alcohol will necessarily increase the risk of fatty liver disease, the key is to see the amount of alcohol.
There is a U-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and fatty liver.
Modern research and epidemiological investigations have shown that for healthy people in general, drinking small amounts of alcohol may improve insulin resistance and reduce the risk of fatty liver disease.
From this point of view, people who drink a lot of alcohol have a lower risk of developing fatty liver than people who have never drunk alcohol.
However, some people may overdose while drinking, at which point the situation will be reversed, so that people who drink alcohol have a higher risk of developing fatty liver disease than people who have never drunk alcohol.
Therefore, it is better to try to avoid drinking, if you really want to drink, you should also pay attention to not overdose, you can refer to the calculation formula of the following figure.
03 Viral hepatitis is associated with fatty liver but differentiated by type
Current studies have shown that the viral hepatitis most closely related to fatty liver is the hepatitis C virus, referred to as hepatitis C for short.
Hepatitis C, divided into hepatitis C type I to type VI hepatitis C or even more, of which type III C is most likely to cause hepatocyte steatosis, even if obesity is not present, not drinking alcohol, it may also lead to fatty liver.
But the much-publicized hepatitis B (viral hepatitis B) is not the case, and its risk of developing fatty liver disease is very close to that of healthy people, and even lower.
Therefore, the hepatitis B virus itself rarely causes fatty liver disease, but if hepatitis B patients have high risk factors for fatty liver such as malnutrition, alcohol consumption, and obesity, fatty liver may also occur.
04 Fatty liver symptoms are not obvious
In the vast majority of cases, fatty liver does not cause any physical symptoms, or only some very inconspicuous symptoms such as liver swelling and pain, and may not appear until the condition is very serious, there will be some liver damage, showing poor appetite, fatigue, greasy and so on.
However, in patients with fatty liver disease, it is very common to have other diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and gout. In these patients, the probability of detecting fatty liver will even be 2-3 times higher than that of healthy people.
Therefore, the symptoms of fatty liver are often not manifested by the symptoms of the disease itself, but are mostly manifested as symptoms of coexisting diseases, often as an intermediate bridge or transit station between sub-healthy states and these diseases.
05 In the treatment of fatty liver, attention should be paid to the cause and co-existing diseases
Treatment of fatty liver, mainly to remove the cause, such as abstinence from alcohol, weight loss.
For alcoholic fatty liver, insist on abstaining from alcohol for one year, and then cooperate with some hepatoprotective anti-inflammatory drugs such as silymarin and polyene phosphatidylcholine to alleviate liver damage and prevent liver fibrosis, and most patients can fully recover.
For simple fatty liver disease caused by obesity and has not yet developed liver damage, it is generally required to lose 3%-5% of weight within one year, and maintain it for more than 6-12 months, and fatty liver can also subside;
If it is steatohepatitis that has been damaged by the liver, it is necessary to increase the requirements, lose 7%-10% of weight within one year, also maintain 6-12 months, and also use some glycyrrhizinate diamine, magnesium isoglyrrhizinate, etc. to protect the liver and anti-inflammatory enzymes, or use some lipid-lowering drugs at the same time, and the fatty liver will gradually improve.
There are also some people who may have fatty liver due to taking drugs such as tamoxifen, and they need to reduce the dose, stop the drug or change the drug under the guidance of a professional doctor.
In addition to these, it is necessary to actively treat hepatitis, as well as some diseases complicated by fatty liver, to prevent fatty liver from continuing to develop and cause greater liver damage.
References: Medical Microvision official website - Fan Jiangao, Chief Physician "Fatty Liver"