Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Oksana Fedorova, a district therapist at the Mamadysh Central Hospital, told about the disease. Causes and risk factors The main mechanism is insulin resistance, which causes cells to stop responding correctly to insulin, leading to increased fat synthesis in the liver.
Key risk factors: · Obesity, especially abdominal (waist circumference >94 cm in men and >80 cm in women). · Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides and cholesterol). · Irrational diet — excess of simple carbohydrates (sugar, sugary drinks, pastries), saturated fats (fatty meat, butter) and deficiency of fiber, vegetables and fruits. · Sedentary lifestyle.
· Additional factors: genetic predisposition, intestinal microbiota disorders, taking certain medications (corticosteroids, antiarrhythmics) and viral infections. Symptoms In the early stages (steatosis), NAFLD is asymptomatic and is most often detected accidentally by ultrasound for another reason. As the transition to steatohepatitis (inflammation) may occur: · Feeling of heaviness, dull pain or discomfort in the right hypochondrium. · Increased fatigue, weakness, decreased working capacity.