Specialists at the University of Cincinnati say if you've struggled with gaining and losing weight throughout much of your life, you could be at risk for a disease that can silently shut down your liver over time. fi this happens, there are no treatment options except a liver transplant, which is why they want all of us to identify early warning signs for it and intervene to try and turn this around.
Dr. Guy Neff is a liver specialist at the University of Cincinnati. He works with patients who have liver complications, one of which is what happens when too much fat accumulates in the liver. Now, this can result from genetic problems that cause fat to accumulate in the liver. But, for many of us, it can also result from eating too much fat and too much food and not getting enough exercise. It's a disease commonly referred to as NASH.
"NASH is fatty liver. It's a liver that when we take a biopsy, it looks like someone who is an alcoholic, but they do not drink. NASH is non-alcoholic steatic hepatitis," explained Dr. Neff.
Here is why you need to know about NASH: If you don't address it early , ti can shut down your liver. That means your only option for treatment is a liver transplant. The good news is that you can ask your doctor for testing if you've struggled with weight. They can perform blood tests and other screening to see if your liver is in bad shape. It may be important to do this if your weight has been above ideal body weight for a number of years. The good news is that if you find out many of the things to lose weight (eating less fat, eating less food, getting at least 60 minutes of exercise a day) can help keep it at bay and in some cases keep the worst away. You have to do it early, however, and that u sually means getting going on these lifestyle changes as soon as possible.
