With the gradual change of modern lifestyle and dietary habits, the incidence of fatty liver disease is becoming more global and younger, and the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population of Western developed countries such as Europe and the United States is 20%~33%; Japanese adults are 21.8%; Even Korean adults who maintain good weight have a high prevalence of 6%. According to the survey, the prevalence of fatty liver in different regions of the mainland varies greatly, about 11%~15%, and the peak of the disease is between 31~50 years old, and the prevalence of fatty liver is increasing, posing a huge threat to the health of people, especially middle-aged people.
How fatty liver occurs
Fatty liver is the result of the accumulation of excess fat in the cells of the liver, and when the amount of fat in the liver exceeds 5% of the liver's weight, it is called fatty liver. Many people think that fatty liver disease must be caused by eating too many fatty foods, however, in addition to high-fat foods, excessive intake of sugar or protein can also be converted into fat in the liver, so excessive consumption of sugar or protein can also cause fatty liver.
Excessive alcohol consumption is also one of the important causes of fatty liver disease. The decomposition and metabolism of alcohol are mainly carried out in the liver, and the ethanol in alcohol has a damaging effect on the liver. Studies have shown that drinking an average of 160 grams of baijiu per day can cause serious liver damage in 75% of people within 15 years.
What are the dangers of fatty liver?
Fatty liver has almost no clinical symptoms, no pain or itching, most people are found through physical examination, and it is a disease with insidious onset and slow onset, so although more and more people are now detected with fatty liver, they often do not pay much attention to it, and their lifestyle habits have not changed. So what are the consequences of such a laissez-faire? Fatty liver refers to simple fatty liver disease, which will evolve into steatohepatitis, fatty liver fibrosis, fatty cirrhosis, and finally liver cancer.
And that's just the effect of fatty liver on the liver; Any disease has an impact on other parts of the body to a greater or lesser extent, and fatty liver is no exception. The proportion of patients with fatty liver disease who have diabetes is also much higher than that of the normal population, and it is a pair of difficult brothers and sisters with diabetes, and both will bring greater difficulties to treatment, and accelerate the progression of the disease. Patients with fatty liver often have hyperlipidemia, blood viscosity increases, and lipids in the blood are easily deposited in the blood vessel wall through the blood vessels, resulting in reduced arterial elasticity and flexibility, and eventually leading to blood circulation disorders.
(The picture comes from the Internet)
What should I do if I have fatty liver?
Fatty liver disease progresses slowly, the course of the disease is very long, and the liver has a strong ability to repair itself, as long as the fatty liver has not progressed to the point of cirrhosis, there is a chance to reverse the disease. Friends who have fatty liver and often drink a lot of alcohol should quit drinking as soon as possible; Friends who usually like high-fat diets should change their eating habits and implement the dietary principle of "three lows and one high", that is, a low-fat, low-salt, low-sugar, and high-fiber diet; Obese patients should exercise and try to keep their weight within the normal range. If you have any discomfort or questions, you should consult a doctor, and do not take Chinese medicine by yourself to avoid toxic damage to the liver caused by certain Chinese medicine ingredients.
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