Steatosis of the liver: causes, symptoms of pathology

In fact, steatosis of the liver can not be called an isolated disease. This is a condition where there is an increase in the amount of fat deposits in the liver cells and in the space between them. People at risk include patients with such abnormalities as:

• Excess weight.
• Diabetes mellitus, developing with obesity. Alcohol poisoning of the body.
• Effect on the body of toxins.
• Consequences of drug therapy.
• Incorrect metabolism and absorption processes in the body.
• Complications of various pathologies that negatively affect metabolism.

When focal steatosis of the liver or focal steatosis develops differently, the fat accumulations are located in a dense fashion, as if they merge into a common spot that differs in size. Diffusive development of pathology is characterized by the dissipation of fatty inclusions on the surface of the liver.

Steatosis can develop regardless of age - a deviation is detected even in childhood. But most often the pathological condition affects people in after forty-five years, when the body is hard to work under the influence of the negative influence of environmental factors. A similar disease affects women more often because of the tendency to set a body mass line. Alcoholic steatosis of the liver affects, as a rule, men who abuse alcohol.

Occasionally, steatosis occurs as an independent disease or as a complication of another disease, for example, diabetes mellitus. Currently, the disease is considered as the next step in the progression of steatohepatitis of different origin.

For what reasons can lesions begin

Steatosis of the liver is triggered by two main causes - a metabolic disorder or alcohol abuse. Naturally, the main provoking factor is the excessive intake of fat in the body, which simply do not have time to be properly consumed. Almost all victims with such a diagnosis in the history of the disease are obese.

The primary form of pathology, as already mentioned, is formed as a result of obesity, diabetes mellitus proceeding according to the second type, etc. At the heart of the disease is the impaired metabolism of carbohydrates and fats. The secondary form of the disease can be triggered by taking certain medications or malabsorption syndrome. Another reason for secondary damage can be a sharp and very strong weight loss, prolonged use of the same food, which is unbalanced in its components.

Despite the identification of stages and the main causes of primary and secondary steatosis, it is simply impossible to identify the causes of pathology more often. Now in medicine, a large number of studies aimed at studying the disease. Scientists have already identified a gene that does not function well in most people in the study group.

Symptomatic development of liver pathology

Steatosis is considered a pathology that progresses very slowly, characterized by chronic development and slow leakage. Symptoms of the disease can be detected quite by accident. The most common symptoms are: nausea and severe weakness, enlargement of the liver, a feeling of pressure and heaviness in the right upper quadrant.

The symptoms of steatosis of the liver are also manifested by the following symptoms: severe severe pain in the right upper quadrant, a tendency to catch a cold or infectious pathologies due to a strong decrease in the activity of the immune forces.

Steatosis can provoke disruption of bile excretion, then the symptoms of extensive bile stasis, manifested by itching, yellowing of the skin, sharp pains in the hypochondrium on the right side, nausea with vomiting with an admixture of bile develop further.

How to conduct diagnostic measures

For the diagnosis of steatosis of the liver, specialists conduct a thorough examination of the symptoms of the pathological condition. At the same time, different symptoms indicate different primary diseases, as their cause, which provoked steatosis, changes.

It is difficult to diagnose steatosis in most cases, because laboratory diagnostics does not show the presence of inflammatory processes in the patient's liver. Despite this, it is possible to push a doctor to the possibility of a diagnosis from the history of the disease - obesity, alcohol abuse, diabetes mellitus.

If the suspected development of steatosis requires additional diagnostic methods - MRI, computed tomography. The main indicator of tomography is the decrease in tissue density in the liver, which indicates abnormalities in its structure. For a final diagnosis, a biopsy is needed - this is part of the parenchyma obtained by biopsy. In the biopsy, inclusions of fat and fibrous tissue are found. After the results of the biopsy, you can put an accurate diagnosis.

How is effective therapy effective?

After diagnosis, the treatment of steatosis of the liver can be carried out only under the close supervision of a specialist and following its recommendations. In accordance with the etiology of the disease and the formation of the problem, it is necessary initially to get rid of its cause or to prevent the stimulants of steatosis development on the body.

In therapy, medicinal methods are used, as well as other methods, for example, proper nutrition and organization of exercise by easy physical exercise and sports in order to increase the energy expenditure of the body.

When implementing drug therapy, special supportive substances for the liver, vitamin B12 and drugs, which suppress the production of acids and enzymes that participate in the formation of fat deposits, are also used.

Simultaneously with proper nutrition it is necessary to engage in sports, various aerobics - this is a loyal approach in any form of obesity in humans. With steatosis, treatment requires the awakening of the patient's body to resorption of any type of fat deposits by increasing energy costs for the functioning of the musculature.

Nutrition with steatosis

The main therapeutic support for any treatment option is a properly selected diet. As a diet, doctors recommend reducing the intake of foods high in fat and digestible carbohydrates.

Simultaneously, it is recommended to increase the consumption of protein foods, for example, any fish, as well as nuts, belongs to such products.

Consequences of the development and progression of the disease

With timely diagnosis and correct diagnostic measures, treatment procedures and compliance with all the doctor's recommendations for the organ recovery period, the predictions remain favorable. Pathology is not accompanied by complications and disappears without consequences.

If you start steatosis and do not follow the rules of treatment and recovery of health, then steatosis can be transformed into fibrosis or cirrhosis - when liver tissue is replaced with connective tissues.

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