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Nonalcoholic Fatty liver Disease| Overview| Types| Symptoms | Diagnosis| Treatment| iPharmaCenter

OVERVIEW

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease where the prevalence is high in patients with obesity. There will be an excess buildup of fat in the liver. NAFLD is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States. There is a high economic and clinical burden because of NAFLD.


Overweight, diabetic patients, high blood pressure, and high-fat levels are high-risk factors for NAFLD.

TYPES OF NAFLD

There are two types of NAFLD.

  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL): Fat deposition will occur without liver damage. Nearly 10% to 20% of Americans will have NAFL.

  • Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): In addition to the buildup of fat, there will be inflammation and liver damage. NASH impacts nearly 2% to 5% of Americans.


SYMPTOMS

  • There will be no damage to the liver in patients with NAFL.

  • The common symptoms of NASH are severe tiredness, weakness, weight loss, and itching.

  • Patients with NAFLD/NASH are at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma.

DIAGNOSIS

  • Liver functioning tests are the common blood tests used to detect NAFLD, including liver enzymes. ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) are the enzymes that usually get detected in the blood

  • Lipid profile tests which include cholesterol and triglycerides

  • Fibrosis assessment tests include the determination of fibrosis, including the AST-to-Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) score and Fibrosis-4 (Fib-4) score

  • Ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI are the imaging tests used to determine if the disease is fatty liver or NASH

  • A liver biopsy is used to determine and confirm NASH. The fat cells are tested under a microscope, which shows inflammation and damage to liver cells


TREATMENT

  • There are no effective treatment options for patients with NAFLD

  • Reducing weight is the most effective treatment, and reducing 3% to 5% of the body weight will reduce fat in the liver, and reducing 7% will reduce inflammation. The effective way of reducing weight is by reducing the number of calories intake, liming salt and sugar, and exercising more

  • It is critical to control blood sugar

  • Reduce the intake of saturated fats, and refer to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

  • Avoiding alcohol

  • It also showed that patients who drink coffee had less liver damage versus people who drink less or no coffee



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