Patient's question:
I have had fatty liver disease for a long time and have seen some Western doctors, but it hasn't been effectively treated, and the costs are high. When my condition flares up, it really hurts, and the doctor has also told me that I cannot eat certain things. Can traditional Chinese medicine treat fatty liver disease?Doctor's answer:
Excess neutral fat accumulation in the liver, primarily triglycerides, leads to this condition. Fatty liver is diagnosed when fat accumulation in the liver is less than 5% of its weight or when more than 50% of the liver parenchyma is fat-laden, based on histology.Staging of fatty liver:
- Mild fatty liver: 5–10% fat accumulation in the liver
- Moderate fatty liver: 10–25% fat accumulation
- Severe fatty liver: greater than 25–50% fat accumulation
Clinical manifestations of fatty liver:
- Lack of specificity, but may include hepatomegaly, decreased appetite, liver region distension and pain, mild decline in transaminase levels, abnormal glucose tolerance. In rare cases, mild jaundice and splenomegaly may reappear, and in very rare cases, it can progress to cirrhosis.
Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective:
Traditional Chinese Medicine generally classifies this condition under categories such as "accumulation," "phlegm turbidity," "blood stasis," and "liver flanks pain."