Diabetes
The liver plays an important role in regulating your body’s blood sugar. People with NAFLD have an increased amount of fat buildup in their liver,which makes it very challenging to maintain healthy glucose levels. This makes the body more resistant to insulin which puts a strain on your pancreas causing the development of type 2 diabetes.
Hyperlipidemia (High Cholesterol)
Hyperlipidemia is the scientific term for what we commonly know as high cholesterol. Hyperlipidemia is the excessive amount of lipids (fat) in your blood. Dr. Moore says that increased exercise and dietary precautions can decrease this common issue in the Black community. Doctors might prescribe medication if dietary changes aren’t working.
Rapid Weight Loss
It might seem really backwards to suggest that losing weight is a bad thing for your fatty liver, but it’s true. Losing a lot of weight really fast encourages the liver to produce endogenous fatty acids to compensate for the fat missing from the diet because of weight loss. You can prevent this by losing weight at a slow, gradual rate with small changes over time. A recommended rate is 2 pounds of weight loss per week.
Medication
Medications such as aspirin, steroids, tamoxifen, and tetracycline can cause fatty liver. Your doctor can prescribe you a different medication if you’re predisposed to these side effects.
Pregnancy
Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) occurs in the third trimester or early postpartum period. This condition is rare and potentially fatal if it isn’t caught in time. The disease has been attributed to the abnormality in fetal fatty acid metabolism. It’s hard to diagnose because it shares features with other common conditions.
Do You Have A Fatty Liver? was originally published on blackdoctor.org
