digestion

How is non alcoholic fatty liver disease treated?

Liver disease is also called hepatic disease. This is in terms of group of single number of diseases affecting the liver. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a liver disease.
- This is one cause of a fatty liver.
- This occurrs when fat is deposited (steatosis) in the liver.
- It is not due to excessive alcohol use.
- It is related to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome.
- This is involved with symptoms such as weight loss, metformin and thiazolidinediones.
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most extreme form of NAFLD.
- This is regarded as a major cause of cirrhosis of the liver of unknown cause.

Relevant blood tests for diagnosis of NAFLD are:
- erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- glucose
- albumin
- renal function
- coagulation related studies
- the INR (international normalized ratio)

Blood tests (serology) are usually used to rule out:
- viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, EBV, CMV andherpes viruses),
- rubella,
- autoimmune related diseases
- hypothyroidism

Treatment of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease NAFLD
Treatment of nutrition and excessive body weight:
- Nutritional counseling: Diet changes have shown significant histological improvement.
- Gradual weight loss may improve the process in obese patients; rapid loss may worsen NAFLD.
- A recent meta-analysis presented at the Annual Meeting of American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) reported that weight-loss surgery leads to improvement and or resolution of NASH in around 80 % of patients.
- Insulin sensitisers (metformin and thiazolidinediones) have shown efficacy in some studies.
- Ursodeoxycholic acid and lipid-lowering drugs, have little benefit.

Treatment also includes:
- Interventional Treatments for Liver Disease(Society of Interventional Radiology).
- Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS)(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America).

Alternative Therapy
- Dandelion (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine)
- Kava Linked to Liver Damage (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine)
- Milk Thistle (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine)

Nutrition
- Diet and Your Liver(American Liver Foundation) .

Specific Conditions
- Acute Liver Failure(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research).
- Alagille Syndrome (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse).
- Alcohol-Related Liver Disease(American Liver Foundation)
- Alcoholic Hepatitis(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
-Benign Liver Tumors(American Liver Foundation)
- Blood Vessel Disorders of the Liver(Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Budd-Chiari Syndrome(Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Enlarged Liver(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Gilbert’s Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Liver Cysts: A Cause of Abdominal Pain?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Liver Hemangioma(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease(American Liver Foundation)
- Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
- Portal Hypertension (Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

| More

If you found this post informative, why not sign up to receive new posts ?
It's simple, and free, and you can even opt to receive by email:
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Good Health Tips by Email

What are causes and symptoms of non alcoholic fatty liver disease?

Liver disease is also called hepatic disease. This is in terms of group of single number of diseases affecting the liver. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a liver disease.
- This is one cause of a fatty liver.
- This occurrs when fat is deposited (steatosis) in the liver.
- It is not due to excessive alcohol use.
- It is related to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome.
- This is involved with symptoms such as weight loss, metformin and thiazolidinediones.
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most extreme form of NAFLD.
- This is regarded as a major cause of cirrhosis of the liver of unknown cause.

Causes of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Fatigue
- Malaise
- Dull right-upper-quadrant abdominal discomfort
- Mild jaundice
- Abnormal liver function tests
- Alcohol consumption of over 20 g/day
- Insulin resistance
- Metabolic syndrome
- Obesity
- Combined hyperlipidemia
- Diabetes mellitus (type II)
- High blood pressure

Secondary Causes
NAFLD can also be caused by some medications.
- Amiodarone
- Antiviral drugs (nucleoside analogues)
- Aspirin rarely as part of Reye’s syndrome in children
- Corticosteroids
- Methotrexate
- Tamoxifen
- Tetracycline

Symptoms present in advanced stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are:
- Lack of appetite
- Unexplained weight loss
- Nausea
- Small, red spider veins under your skin or easy bruising
- Weakness
- Jaundice
- Bleeding from engorged veins in your esophagus or intestines
- Loss of interest in sex
- Fluid in your abdominal cavity
- Itching on your hands and feet and eventually on your entire body
- Swelling of your legs and feet
- Fatigue
- Malaise
- Dull right-upper-quadrant abdominal discomfort
- Mild jaundice

What are different treatment options available for treating liver cancer?

These are some of the treatments available:
- Surgery,
- Immunotherapy,
- Photodynamic Therapy,
- Hyperthermia,
- Radiation Therapy
- Radiosurgery
The best option for curing liver cancer is surgery.

Other techniques used to treat liver cancer are:
- Including inserting needles into the tumor.
- Destroying the tumor (ablation).
- Injecting a substance into the tumor to deprive it of the blood supply it needs (embolization).
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy

The best treatment for the liver cancer is based on:
- Age, overall health, and medical history.
- Extent of the disease.
- Stage of the cancer.
- Your tolerance of specific medicines, procedures, or therapies.
- Expectations for the course of the disease.
- Your opinion or preference.

Surgery
- Surgery is the only way to cure liver cancer.
- The most common type of surgery for liver cancer is resection (removal of the cancer).
- The presence of cirrhosis of the liver makes surgical resection less successful.
- It may require the entire liver to be removed and replaced with a donated liver (liver transplant).
- Surgery depends on whether the part of your liver that is not affected by the cancer is healthy.
- When part of your liver is removed, enough healthy liver tissue left is to be taken care of, to carry out all of the critical jobs of the liver.

Ablation
- Ablation destroys the tumor without removing it.
- It is a good option for patients with small liver tumors.
- This process uses high-energy radio waves, alcohol injections and very cold metal probes to destroy the tumor.

Embolization
- Tumors need the oxygen supplied by blood to grow.
- Embolization stops blood from flowing to the tumor.
- Embolization can be done by injecting substances that plug the artery.
- This is sometimes combined with chemotherapy (chemoembolization) or radiation therapy (radioembolization).

Chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy drugs kill cancerous cells.
- It works by stopping cancer cells from growing or reproducing, which kills the cells.
- Chemotherapy may be taken by mouth in pill form or injected into a vein or muscle.
- Sometimes it is injected into a hepatic artery through a thin tube (catheter).
- This process is known as chemoembolization.

Radiation Therapy
- Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
- Radiation therapy for liver cancer is usually delivered internally.
- It is done by inserting a radioactive substance into the body.

Targeted Therapy
- Targeted therapy blocks the steps involved in the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.
- Targeted therapy drug may be taken by mouth or in a pill form.
- The main targeted therapy for liver cancer is a drug called Nexavar (sorafenib tosylate).

Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Partial hepatectomy to resect the entire tumor.
- Liver transplantation.
- Cryoablation.
- Chemoembolization.
- Radiotherapy.
- Sorafenib.
- Radiofrequency ablation.
- Radiofrequency ablation combined with local chemotherapy.

Cholangiocarcinoma
- Photodynamic therapy.
- Brachytherapy.
- Radiotherapy.
- Liver transplantation.

Hepatoblastoma
- Chemotherapy, including vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin.
- Radiotherapy.
- Liver transplantation.
- Surgical resection.