Types and causes of the disease
Steatosis of the liver is a disease characterized by a metabolic disorder in the liver cells. It is manifested by fat cell degeneration. Therefore, this disease is also called fatty hepatosis.
The causes of this disease are many. One of them is a toxic effect on the liver. The most common reason among toxic agents is the use of alcohol. In this case, the more its consumption, the higher the rate and degree of development of dystrophic changes in the liver cells.
Also, drug steatosis of the liver can develop in the treatment of tuberculostatic drugs, cytostatics, antibiotics (especially tetracycline).
The next reason is the lack of microelements and macronutrients, vitamins and other nutrients in the body. Also, the cause may be a food imbalance - a discrepancy between the total calorie intake and the content of animal protein products. With such diseases of the digestive system as ulcerative colitis and chronic pancreatitis, food imbalance is the main cause of the development of steatosis of the liver. Overeating or malnutrition, unbalanced and irrational nutrition, in special cases can trigger the development of the disease.
The main cause of the formation of steatosis of the liver in those who suffer from cardiovascular failure and pulmonary diseases is hypoxia (lack of oxygen).
In humans, with the progression of diabetes, especially in old age, there are endocrine-metabolic disorders. This is also the cause of liver steatosis. Also, this disease can occur with pathologies of the thyroid gland and the syndrome of Itenko-Cushing. Common obesity of cells is also accompanied by this disease.
Often, with a worn out clinical picture, steatosis of the liver occurs, manifested by soreness with palpation and a slight increase in the liver. Many suffer from pain in the right hypochondrium, general weakness, irritability, impaired concentration, decreased efficiency, increased fatigue, memory impairment. There are also dyspeptic disorders (nausea, a feeling of discomfort in the epigastric region, a decrease in appetite, a perversion of taste).
With advanced and severe forms of liver steatosis, dangerous diseases can develop. These are diseases such as pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosis, the development of liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension.
Treatment of steatosis of the liver
It is impossible to cure steatosis on its own, treatment of this disease can be prescribed only by a doctor. The procedures include not both medication and drug therapy. If properly treated steatosis is completely curable - with strict adherence to the main recommendations of the doctor.
First of all, you need to balance your diet and completely give up alcohol. Food should contain a limited amount of fat, but a sufficient number of proteins (100-120 g / day) and vitamins. With total obesity, you should limit the amount of carbohydrates that come with food. We recommend products enriched with lipotropic factors (buckwheat and oatmeal, yeast, cottage cheese).
Physical stress should be given special attention. During the period of remission, you need constant light physical exercises that increase the energy expenditure of the body. They thereby lead to a decrease in the dystrophic changes in the liver cells. In case of exacerbations, motor activity should be limited. Often patients are prescribed bed rest.
If you do not follow the doctor's prescriptions and mainly continue to abuse alcohol, you can not only provoke the development of dangerous complications, but also significantly delay the treatment of the liver from steatosis. Unfortunately, with the constant use of alcohol, especially with protein deficiency, protein dystrophy of the hepatocyte cytoplasm develops, in combination with fatty liver dystrophy, as well as fibrosis, which turns into cirrhosis.
For prevention purposes, the following recommendations should be observed: refusal to drink alcoholic beverages, treatment of chronic diseases of the digestive system, treatment of endocrine diseases and diabetes. And also a balanced diet. The correct intake of certain medicines. Knowing the causes of the development of steatosis of the liver, treatment and prevention, medicine has learned to fight this disease.