Fatty degeneration of the liver: the beginning and causes of the deposition of fats
Fatty degeneration of the liver is a chronic pathology, which is characterized by the development of degeneration in the cells of the organ. There is such a disease often enough, it develops under the influence of alcoholic beverages on the body, toxins, diabetes mellitus, anemia, lung damage, with severe enteritis, with malnutrition and excess body weight.
Fats that enter the body with food are split after ingestion through the enzymes, and then absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, fats penetrate the liver, where they form the substances necessary for the body.
Fat infiltration develops under the condition of accumulation in the body of a multitude of triglycerides. Their concentration in fatty degeneration can reach up to 50% of the body weight, and in normal state - not more than 5%.The etiological factors of this condition are diverse - excess intake of fatty acids along with food, an increase in the formation of triglycerides in the liver, a violation of excretion of triglycerides from the liver into fatty tissues where they begin to accumulate as fat stores. In accordance with the nature of the deposition of fats, the dystrophy is classified into a large droplet and small droplet form - which depends on the size of fat droplets in the liver.
Why does the deposition of excess fats start?
- First of all, the liver suffers if a person abuses alcohol drinking. Ethyl alcohol, as well as its decay products in the body, negatively affect the metabolism of fats in this organ. The power of defeat is directly proportional to the volume of alcohol consumed by man.
- Diabetes mellitus.
- Increased body weight and a large intake of fat in the body with food.
- Lack of protein intake, a violation of the transport of fats to tissues from the liver.
- Poisoning the body with poisons - toxic liver dystrophy.
- Course of treatment of certain medicines.
Degrees of disease progression
Fatty hepatosis is classified into four degrees:
- Zero degree - small droplets of fat adversely affect ha group of healthy cells in the liver.
- The first degree - there is a moderate large-droplet obesity of cells.
- The second degree - small-drop, medium-drop and large-droplet cell obesity.
- Third degree - diffuse large-droplet obesity occurs simultaneously with extracellular obesity and the formation of fatty cysts.
Symptoms of the progression of fatty hepatosis
Pathology is often characterized by asymptomatic course and is reliably diagnosed by ultrasound. Indicators of liver enzyme concentrations can be constantly changing and increase in 50% of cases, which provokes difficulties associated with the diagnosis of the disease.
A long process of inflammation in the liver can cause cirrhosis or even oncology in the body. If the symptoms of fatty liver dystrophy are pronounced, the patient complains of the severity and discomfort in the right upper quadrant. Also, the organ can be moderately enlarged, and stick out from under the costal arch to a distance of up to 5 cm. Ultrasound in this case shows in the pictures a lightening of the liver and an increase in echogenicity.
Dopplerography for the liver shows a worsening of blood flow. Computer tomography indicates a decrease in density in comparison with the spleen. Symptoms of progression include nausea, epigastric pain, aching pain in the hypochondrium to the right and flatulence.
Diagnosis and treatment choice
Before you understand how to treat a pathology, you need a thorough diagnosis. When ultrasound is realized for the abdominal part, an increase in echogenicity and size is established. In the biochemical diagnosis of blood, mild activation of samples and disturbances in protein fractions are noted.
When organizing the treatment, it will initially be necessary to completely prevent or limit as much as possible the effect on the body of the factor that provoked the deposition of fats in the liver. It's always done. If the causes of the defeat was the abuse of alcohol. Patients with diabetes should periodically visit the endocrinologist and cardiologist. Each patient should follow a diet with a low concentration of fat. Still need to organize enough physical activity every day.
In patients with obesity, the treatment of fatty liver disease requires weight loss. The positive effect of weight loss on the course of fatty hepatosis has not yet been fully proven. Rapid weight loss can trigger activation of the inflammatory process and the progression of fibrosis. If everything decreases by 11 - 20 kg per year, this will positively affect the severity of the disease - will reduce the inflammation and intensity of signs of fibrosis. It is most effective to lose weight by at least 1.6 kg per week - this effect can be achieved by consuming 25 calories per 1 kg of a person's weight per day and active sports.
When the listed correction measures are not enough, the doctor prescribes a course of therapy with special drugs that affect the metabolic processes of fat in the liver. In most patients diagnosed with fatty degeneration, it proceeds favorably and gently. These people require treatment combining antioxidant treatment, membrane repair, immunity modulation. This approach will reduce the activity of inflammation and stop the discia of the bile duct.
Therapeutic diet in a situation where the body affects fatty or granular dystrophy of the liver, should solve the following problems:
- Elimination of alcoholic beverages, smoked and spicy dishes.
- Limiting the consumption of butter.
- Daily consumption of cottage cheese, because it contains an important amino acid - methionine, which is used to build new cells in the liver instead of those killed by negative factors and fatty inclusions.
Prognosis of the disease remains favorable for careful adherence to proper nutrition and with timely assistance to the body cells through medications.
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