Why Have Fatty Liver? The Doctor Tells The Truth In A Word
In recent years, the trend of younger patients with fatty liver has gradually aroused public attention and discussion. How to properly prevent fatty liver has also become a focus of health concern. Regarding the younger age of the disease, Shang Changzhen, the chief physician of the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, believes that it is related to changes in life and eating habits.
In the film and television work "It's Only Thirty" that is still "hot" after the end, the male character Xu Huanshan suffered from moderate fatty liver at the age of 30. According to reports, a 10-year-old boy in Guangzhou also suffered from fatty liver. In recent years, the trend of younger patients with fatty liver has gradually aroused public attention and discussion. How to properly prevent fatty liver has also become a focus of health concern. Regarding the younger age of the disease, Shang Changzhen, the chief physician of the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, believes that it is related to changes in life and eating habits.
High-calorie diet and less exercise, fatty liver "focuses" on young patients
Chief physician Shang Changzhen revealed that there are two main types of fatty liver according to the cause of disease. One is alcoholic fatty liver caused by long-term and heavy drinking, and the other is non-alcoholic fatty liver. In some people, both types of fatty liver can lead to steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer; in addition to affecting the liver itself, fatty liver can also cause or aggravate cardiovascular and metabolic diseases occur. In particular, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is becoming the main cause of common chronic liver diseases affecting human health worldwide. At present, the annual incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has reached 50 cases per thousand people, and the growth rate of the disease in Asian countries has exceeded that of European and American countries.
According to the introduction of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Team at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, in recent years, the number of fatty liver patients admitted to the Hepatobiliary Surgery Clinic has gradually increased, and the proportion of young people has increased significantly. Insufficient exercise, high-calorie diet, obesity and other issues are similar to these young patients. The above reasons can cause excessive accumulation of fat in the liver. Generally speaking, if fat accumulation exceeds 5% of the total weight of the liver, or more than 50% of liver cells have fatty degeneration, the diagnostic criteria for fatty liver are met. Previous studies have shown that non-alcoholic fatty liver is closely related to age and body obesity. As age increases, the probability of fatty hepatitis and liver fibrosis increases accordingly. However, in recent years, the incidence of fatty liver in children and adolescents has increased significantly. The reasons for this are related to the increase in the proportion of children and adolescents with high-calorie diet, less exercise, and obesity. In addition, fatty liver is not only "favoring" obese people, some non-obese people may also suffer from fatty liver, which is related to factors such as abnormal body fat metabolism.
Most patients have no discomfort? Liver ultrasound is necessary!
Among patients with fatty liver, most patients do not experience obvious discomfort, and only a few people with moderate to severe fatty liver may experience symptoms such as fatigue, indigestion, and upper abdominal discomfort. Although "not easy to be found", fatty liver may also manifest as metabolic or cardiovascular diseases such as elevated blood sugar, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.
So, how do you know if you have fatty liver?
Chief Physician Shang Changzhen introduced that in addition to routine blood tests at the physical examination center to check liver function, blood sugar and blood lipids and other indicators, liver ultrasound is a common method for diagnosing fatty liver. Ultrasound examination has the advantages of convenience and non-invasiveness. Citizens and friends in need can find the existence of most fatty livers with the assistance of ultrasound examination and judge the degree of fatty liver. When it is necessary to make a differential diagnosis with other liver diseases or clarify the degree of liver fibrosis, CT or liver puncture pathological examination is also one of the auxiliary methods to diagnose fatty liver.
In terms of the prevention and treatment of fatty liver, such as normal liver function, normal metabolism and cardiovascular indicators, people with mild fatty liver do not necessarily need medication. They can adjust their diet to avoid excessive high-calorie and high-fat diets. Try to avoid drinking alcohol, increase physical activity appropriately, and reduce weight for obese people to improve the degree of fatty liver. If the physical examination finds abnormalities in liver function, blood sugar, blood lipids and other indicators, you need to go to a liver or metabolic disease specialist for evaluation, and if necessary, take orally protect the liver and control blood sugar and blood lipids and other drugs.
Chief Physician Shang Changzhen said that fatty liver is a common chronic liver disease. As long as we form regular and scientific eating habits and participate in more sports, it will help control and reverse fatty liver and reduce the possibility of it being combined with other organ diseases. The rate of occurrence. At the same time, no matter whether we have fatty liver or not, we should have regular physical examinations every year to ensure our health.