The liver is a vital organ that regulates many biochemical processes in our body, like a factory. There are many diseases that affect the liver. The most important of these diseases for our society was chronic hepatitis B, which we explained in previous articles. One of the important tables that cause structural and functional disorders in the liver is fatty liver.
Leveraging due to non-alcoholic causes has become the most important cause of chronic liver diseases today. Especially the changes in eating habits and obesity lead to an increase in the frequency of the disease. This disease does not remain in the form of simple fatty liver, but if special precautions are not taken in the future, it can go up to intense liver inflammation and even cirrhosis. This disease was first described by Ludwig in 1980 and research has intensified in recent years. Although fatty liver disease mostly progresses in the form of simple adiposity without disturbing liver tests, the most common cause of liver dysfunction in the population today is fatty liver and it affects a very large part of the population, approximately 25% of the population.
Fatty liver is often associated with other metabolic abnormalities. are seen together. In recent years, significant developments have been made especially on the role of insulin resistance in liver damage, and these findings have led to the development of promising new approaches to treatment. Again, the prevention and treatment of conditions associated with the disease, especially the metabolic syndrome on the basis of obesity and insulin resistance, come to the fore more and more in the approach to the disease. Therefore, the most important risk factor for the development of fatty liver is the metabolic syndrome, which consists of obesity, diabetes, high blood fat and hypertension parameters.
Patients with fatty liver disease usually do not have any complaints. There may be weakness, exhaustion, a feeling of fullness and mild pain in the upper right region of the abdomen due to an enlarged liver. In cases with advanced liver disease, all signs of end-stage liver failure can be seen. In these patients, mild-to-moderate ALT/M in liver function tests, which are usually performed for other purposes, AST elevations or diffuse whitening on ultrasound make fatty liver to be suspected and the patient to be investigated for this purpose. Biopsy can be performed in patients with suspected advanced liver injury or for differential diagnosis with other liver diseases.
The most important picture affecting the natural course in patients with fatty liver is the presence of diabetes, and mortality rates are significantly higher in this patient group. Some studies show that 70% of cirrhosis of unknown cause is associated with fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease is a condition that has the potential to eventually progress to liver cirrhosis. Therefore, treatment is absolutely necessary.
Consequently, the fact that fatty liver disease does not cause any particular complaints does not mean that it is an innocent condition. To put the matter in reverse, every patient with obesity or diabetes should be systematically followed up in terms of fatty liver disease and the disease should be considered.
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