Patient's question:
When I was young, I was a heavy drinker. Nowadays, I still drink beer but rarely, and I haven't paid much attention to my diet, especially loving high-fat foods. My wife is very caring and often advises me, worried that I might develop fatty liver disease. Sometimes, I also worry about it myself.Doctor's answer:
Fatty liver refers to an inflammation caused by various reasons leading to excessive fat accumulation within liver cells. In normal liver, fat accounts for 3%-4% of the liver's weight. If the fat content is below 5% of the liver's weight, it is considered fatty liver, with severe cases reaching up to 40%-50% fat content. The lipids in fatty liver are primarily triglycerides. Fatty liver is generally divided into two types: acute and chronic. Acute fatty liver is similar to acute or subacute viral hepatitis and is relatively rare. Clinical symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and varying degrees of jaundice. It can also lead to recurrent hepatic coma and kidney failure within a short period, with severe cases dying from complications within hours. If treated promptly, the condition can improve rapidly in the short term.