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What Causes a Fatty Liver With Moderate Infiltration?

The role of the liver in the human body is often underappreciated. It stores vitamins, minerals and glucose for later use. The liver creates bile to break food down and it processes complex chemicals such as those found in medications. Additionally, the liver filters red blood cells and prevents harmful intestinal germs from spreading throughout the body. Fatty liver is an increasingly common condition that can compromise this highly efficient organ.

  1. What Is Fatty Liver?

    • Fatty liver is the infiltration of fat stored in the liver's cells. The form of fat commonly seen in fatty liver is triglycerides. These fats may interfere with the functioning of the liver and can even cause permanent damage in the form of scarring and hardening the liver. This may lead to the liver condition called cirrhosis. Fatty liver is an increasingly common condition and, in extremely serious cases, is now treated with a liver transplant.

    Diagnosis of Fatty Liver

    • Fatty liver was, at one time, a disease of alcoholics. Today it affects nearly 20% of the population, including children. It commonly affects those who suffer from alcoholism, obesity and diabetes. An effective resource for diagnosing fatty liver is an ultrasound of the liver. It may also be diagnosed by measuring liver blood enzymes or through a biopsy of the liver tissue. However, most people who are diagnosed with fatty liver do not have noticeable symptoms.

    What Causes Fatty Liver?

    • Fatty liver can be caused by a variety of issues but the more common causes are alcoholism and obesity. However, there is some mystery as to how these create the fatty accumulation in the liver. Merely eating fatty foods does not directly cause fatty liver. In some cases, starvation and malnutrition precede the development of fatty liver. Some illnesses, such as HIV and hepatitis C, can cause the buildup of fat deposits in the liver.

    Fat Metabolism and Fatty Liver

    • Fatty liver commonly occurs in people who suffer from conditions relating to fat metabolism. These are diseases that include hypertension, dyslipidemia and, already mentioned, diabetes and obesity. The conditioned can be triggered by rapid weight loss as evidenced by those who developed it after intestinal bypass surgery and those who suffer from malnutrition or starvation.

    Other Causes of Fatty Liver

    • Fatty liver has been associated with those who have experienced tuberculosis or an overabundance of vitamin A. Liver damage caused by the ingestion of toxic mushrooms also has contributed to fatty liver. Drugs, such as valproic acid, have also been connected to the condition. At times, pregnancy complications have led to fatty liver. Although many things can trigger fatty liver, it is clear that any damage to the liver increases the likelihood of the development of this dangerous condition.

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