Fatty liver disease is a serious disease because it can eventually lead to the cirrhosis or death of the liver tissue if not managed and treated on time. The major causes for this disease are alcoholism and obesity. There is some evidence that implicates Reye’s syndrome and the use of corticosteroids, also play a role in the development of a fatty liver.
A fatty liver occurs when the liver’s fat deposits exceed five to ten percent of its overall weight. This occurs due an improper fat metabolism. It starts out with droplets of fat forming in the liver cells or hepatocytes. These deposits then keep getting larger and larger until they displace the core of the cell itself. These then cause fatty cysts to develop – a condition that presents itself as a lesion and is irreversible. The normal fat metabolism is disrupted here and inadequate burning of fat by the body and improper storage of fat in the liver instead of the adipose tissue are main causes of the fatty liver. If the cause of the disease is because of obesity then the disease is fully treatable and can be reversed by reducing the amount of fat intake and by burning off the fat by exercise. An extremely severe case of a fatty liver will causes an inflammation of the liver cells called steatohepatitis. Eventually, this will progress into a condition of cell fibrosis where the tissue hardens and eventually necrosis or cell death. Cirrhosis is the end result of this if alcohol consumption is not reduced or the fat intake is not reduced. Treating the condition is based on alcohol reduction and fat reduction.
One of the methods of treating this condition at home is to remove alcohol completely from one’s life. This may involve you going into some kind of rehab or counseling sessions. The next steps are common to both patients, which is diet modification to remove oil and fats completely from the diet. Until the point where the disease is in remission and completely cured, boiled food and a zero fat intake are essential. Since other liver functions are not affected, the rest of the diet can still be normal and condiments are still allowed to flavor food. Exercise is the next step where you would have to indulge in a lot of cardio vascular exercise. This helps to burn off fat from the body. Another curious treatment is to expose oneself to cold temperatures on purpose so that fat is burned off.