Fatty Liver

Around 100 million Americans have fatty liver disease and because it’s a symptomless disease in its early stages, many have no idea they’ve got it. HealthScansBCS helps patients become proactive about their liver health.  This helps physicians diagnose and treat dangerous liver diseases sooner. 

What is fatty liver disease?

Fatty liver is a “silent disease” because it rarely causes symptoms until the late stages when it’s severe and challenging to treat. It’s often missed during routine checkups.

Early liver disease detection and close monitoring are absolutely necessary for people at high risk, those with obesity, alcoholism, diabetes, or existing fatty liver disease. 

Fatty liver disease is the most common long-term liver condition today, affecting around 100 million Americans. People with this disease have more fat than they should in their liver: more than 5%-10% of the liver’s total weight.

Weight difficulties, diabetes, and alcoholism raise your risk of developing a fatty liver. If you already have fatty liver disease, it can get worse, possibly leading to severe illness or death, unless you take steps now to protect your liver.

What types of fatty liver are there?

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

NAFLD isn’t related to alcohol use. The most common type of NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), means you don’t have physical damage to your liver at least not yet. But, about 2 in 10 people with NAFL develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) within 3-7 years.

NASH is excess liver fat alongside inflammation and liver damage. Up to 15% of people with NASH develop cirrhosis (severe liver scarring), and up to 24% develop liver cancer.

Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD)

AFLD is fatty liver disease in people who drink heavy amounts of alcohol. It can lead to alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis and increases the risk of liver cancer.