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Symptoms of Fatty Liver

When excessive amounts of fat accumulate in the liver, a person can develop fatty liver disease. Although it is common to have some liver fat, if more than 10 percent of the liver's weight is fat you may develop liver inflammation and scarring. In most cases, fatty liver does not cause noticeable symptoms; however, there are some physical indicators that there may be too much fat in the liver cells.

  1. Liver Enlargement

    • A person with fatty liver may develop an enlarged liver (called hepatomegaly) because of the extra fat accumulation. Although this symptom is generally not noticeable to you, a doctor performing a medical checkup may notice the enlargement, the American Liver Foundation reports. Liver enlargement may also be discovered when undergoing routine blood tests, X-rays, or imaging tests for other health concerns.

    Fatigue, Weakness and Abdominal Pain

    • According to eMedicine, persistent fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of fatty liver, although most patients do not report this symptom until after liver enlargement is noticed. Weakness (malaise) and abdominal pain are also common symptoms of fatty liver, although they may not be noticeable until after a patient receives a diagnosis.

    The Metabolic Syndrome

    • The metabolic syndrome is a combination of risk factors, including excessive abdominal fat, high blood pressure and blood fat levels, and problems regulating blood sugar that make you more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes. Although the metabolic syndrome is not a direct symptom of fatty liver, fatty liver is strongly associated with the metabolic syndrome. If you have fatty liver, you probably also have metabolic syndrome as well.

    Severe Fatty Liver Symptoms

    • If the initial fatty liver symptoms go unnoticed and fluid more fat accumulates in the liver, the liver tissue can become inflamed and filled with scar tissue that indicates liver disease. Symptoms of more severe fatty liver include ascites (extra fluid between the tissues in the abdomen), swelling, distended veins in the esophagus or stomach, breast tissue swelling and menstrual problems.

    Liver Failure

    • Those who take certain drugs, including the arthritis medication methotrexate and the cancer drug tamoxifen, may also develop fatty liver disease. In these individuals, the first symptom of a liver problem may be liver failure, when the liver stops working properly. This condition is serious and may require a liver transplant.

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