At 18 years old, fat covers the liver, high risk of cirrhosis and cancer

Weight loss surgery for patients with severe fatty liver at 108 Military Central Hospital - Photo: BVCC

People with fatty liver have a risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer 150 times higher than normal.

Many young people have fatty liver

Doctors said that through health check-ups, many young people were found to have fatty liver.

Mr. NVT (18 years old, Hanoi) was obese and went for treatment. The test results showed that his liver was severely fatty. The entire liver of patient T. was covered with white fat particles.

Not only fat people, Mr. D.MH (42 years old, Hanoi) is thin, tired, has loss of appetite, and often has stomachache. When examined, he was also found to have grade 3-4 fatty liver.

Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Tuan - Head of the Department of Digestive Surgery, 108 Central Military Hospital - said that these are typical cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is often found in people who are obese, have type 2 diabetes, have dyslipidemia or have metabolic syndrome...

Doctor Dao Thi Kim Ngan - ultrasound specialist in Hanoi - said that fatty liver is also known as fatty liver degeneration. It is a condition of fat accumulation in the liver >5% of liver weight. The disease is increasingly seen on ultrasound.

Ten years ago, ultrasound only found 1-2 people with hepatitis, men who drank a lot of alcohol >45 years old. Now, every day there are 8-12 cases of all ages, including children 7-8 years old, especially increasing in young people aged 20-30.

Master Tran Anh Tuan (Hung Viet Oncology Hospital) said that fatty liver is becoming an alarming health problem in modern life. Statistics show that about 20 - 30% of Vietnamese people have fatty liver disease and this rate increases to 57.5 - 74% in obese people, type II diabetes is 10 - 75%, hyperlipidemia is 20 - 92%.

Statistics from the Vietnam Liver and Biliary Association show that about 50 - 60% of the adult Vietnamese population has fatty liver disease.

18 year old young man with white fat covering liver - Photo: BVCC

Fatty liver due to excess nutrition

Experts say that as people's living standards improve, the rate of fatty liver disease is also increasing. Normally, the liver contains a little fat, but if the amount of fat is more than 5 - 10% of the liver's weight, it can lead to very dangerous complications.

According to classification based on liver biopsy, fatty liver is divided into 3 levels: mild (fat content accounts for 5-10% of liver weight), moderate (fat content accounts for 10-25% of liver weight), severe (fat content over 30% of liver weight).

The cause of fatty liver is from living habits, diet with excess fat, absorbing too much sugar, drinking too much alcohol, sitting a lot, lack of exercise, stress, and can even be genetic if someone in the family is obese... In addition, working in an environment with polluted air containing arsenic, phosphorus or lead also causes liver poisoning.

Master Tuan analyzed that the liver plays the role of the body's metabolic center, the liver is the place where fat is metabolized and stored. Fats absorbed through the intestines will "concentrate" in the liver to be synthesized into triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol esters and lipoproteins to be transported to other parts of the body.

Therefore, eating more than the body needs, the "excess" will be converted into fat to store energy.

When the amount of fat in the body is too "abundant" or metabolic disorders in the liver will "concentrate" mainly under the skin causing obesity, "wander" in the blood causing high blood fat and deposit in the liver causing fatty liver disease. Therefore, people with belly fat and obesity have a risk of fatty liver 4-5 times higher than normal people.

Signs to watch out for

In the early stages, fatty liver disease often has no obvious symptoms, so people easily ignore it. Common symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, poor appetite, indigestion... make many people think it is just a common illness.

When the rate of fat deposition in the liver occurs quickly, causing the liver to "get fat quickly", the liver surface is stretched, the patient feels pain or heaviness in the right hypochondrium. This is followed by increased liver enzymes, more symptoms appear such as jaundice, acne, itching, allergies, hives...

Long-term fatty infiltration in the liver reduces the process of "destroying" fatty acids in the liver, liver cells are "deformed" and liver function is impaired. People with fatty liver, if not detected and treated promptly, will lead to risks such as cirrhosis, even liver cancer.

There are many causes of fatty liver, but the most common are alcohol, overweight, obesity. Due to some diseases: people with hyperlipidemia, diabetes, lipid disorders... will have a high risk of fatty liver; or due to insulin resistance, rapid weight loss, genetics. Side effects of some drugs or incorrect use of drugs.

Ways to keep your liver healthy

- Maintaining a healthy weight: requires monitoring of calories and energy intake.

- Regular exercise: helps improve insulin sensitivity, supports metabolism, helps control weight and blood pressure. Exercise also improves sleep.

- Limit medication use: take the correct dose as prescribed and only take medication when prescribed by a doctor.

- Control blood pressure: high blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, memory loss and fatty liver.

- Reduce insulin resistance: insulin resistance causes diabetes.

Food as "medicine" contributes 50% to the ability to treat

Experts say that a proper and reasonable diet is a method that contributes 50% of the treatment value.

People with fatty liver disease need to limit animal fat in their diet to reduce blood fat and reduce fat transported through the liver to help reduce the burden on the liver. Replace animal fat with vegetable oils such as sesame oil, soybean oil, olive oil and fish.

Reduce intake of foods rich in cholesterol: animal organs, animal skin, egg yolks... Avoid foods and drinks that are too spicy such as ginger, garlic, chili, pepper, alcohol, coffee, strong tea... Stop drinking alcohol immediately when you feel signs of fatty liver disease.

Doctor Tong Thi Bich Thuy, Hanoi Oriental Medicine Association, said that in traditional medicine, fatty liver belongs to the category of "accumulation" syndrome. The ideal menu for the liver at this time is: corn, celery, shiitake mushrooms... which have the effect of lowering cholesterol in the blood and liver cells. Eating foods containing protein must be appropriate to the capacity of the liver.

Some foods are considered "medicines" that have the ability to "reduce fat" such as: peas, fresh ripe tomatoes, celery, fish mint, garlic, soybean oil, yellow peppers, Malabar spinach, banana flower. Fruits to use are grapefruit, ripe apples, oranges, tangerines, lemons... Increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet, especially green vegetables, chrysanthemum greens, water spinach... which have the effect of cooling the liver.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/18-tuoi-mo-da-phu-trang-gan-nguy-co-xo-gan-ung-thu-cao-20240924224418032.htm