Patient's question:
Your uncle really loves drinking beer and smoking heavily. Recently, he has been feeling discomfort and nausea in his liver, even experiencing dry heaves. Since he has been drinking alcohol for a long time, his liver has never been very healthy, and he is a bit suspicious that he might have fatty liver disease.Doctor's answer:
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to an inflammatory condition characterized by excessive fat accumulation within liver cells due to various causes. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease poses a serious threat to the health of Chinese people, ranking as the third leading liver disease after viral hepatitis, and has rightly been recognized as a common cause of cryptogenic cirrhosis. NAFLD is a common clinical diagnosis phenomenon rather than a disease of reading difficulty. Its clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic mild cases to severe and aggressive conditions. Generally, NAFLD is a reversible disease, and early diagnosis and timely treatment often lead to normalization. NAFLD often exhibits no symptoms, similar to mild hepatitis. Ultrasound and CT scans can provide diagnostic significance, but the diagnosis must be confirmed through liver biopsy. Patients with NAFLD typically have no symptoms or only mild fatigue, poor appetite, abdominal pain, belching, or a sense of fullness in the liver region.