Fatty liver disease (steatosis) is a common condition caused by the storage of extra fat in the liver. Most people have no symptoms, and it doesn’t cause serious problems for them. In some cases, though, it can lead to liver damage. A healthy liver contains a small amount of fat. It becomes a problem when fat reaches 5% to 10% of your liver’s weight. The good news is you can often prevent or even reverse fatty liver disease with lifestyle changes.
In most cases, fatty liver disease doesn’t cause any serious problems or prevent your liver from functioning normally. But for 7% to 30% of people with the condition, fatty liver disease gets worse over time. It progresses through three stages:
- Your liver becomes inflamed (swollen), which damages its tissue. This stage is called steatohepatitis.
- Scar tissue forms where your liver is damaged. This process is called fibrosis.
- Extensive scar tissue replaces healthy tissue. At this point, you have cirrhosis of the liver.
Cirrhosis of the liver is a result of severe damage to the liver. The hard scar tissue that replaces healthy liver tissue slows down the liver’s functioning. Eventually, it can block liver function entirely. Cirrhosis can lead to liver failure and liver cancer.
There are two main forms of fatty liver disease:
Alcohol-induced fatty liver disease and Non-alcohol related fatty liver disease
Alcohol-induced fatty liver disease is caused by heavy drinking. (Moderate drinking is defined as one drink a day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.) About 5% of people have this form of liver disease.
Non-alcohol related fatty liver disease (NAFLD) occurs in people who aren’t heavy drinkers. The condition affects one in three adults and one in 10 children in the United States. Researchers haven’t found the exact cause of non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. Several factors, such as obesity and diabetes, can increase your risk.
Some people get fatty liver disease without having any pre-existing conditions. But these risk factors make you more likely to develop it:
- Having overweight/obesity.
- Having Type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance.
- Having metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels).
- Taking certain prescription medications, such as amiodarone (Cordarone), diltiazem (Cardizem), tamoxifen (Nolvadex) or steroids.
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