NON-ALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the excessive accumulation of fat in the liver and can progress to Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), which is also associated with significant liver damage and subsequent progression to cirrhosis.
NAFLD and NASH are painless; usually, the patient becomes aware of their presence when it is already too late and they are suffering from cirrhosis.
It is not a rare condition:
- The global prevalence of NAFLD is estimated at 25%, and among patients with NAFLD, between 10% and 59% progress to NASH..
Risk Factors:
- Obesity in 82%
- Elevated blood lipids in 72%
- Diabetes in 44%
- Hypertension in 68%

It is very important to take this pathology into account in the risk groups mentioned above. The study can easily be initiated with blood tests and a liver ultrasound.

Often, the first sign of liver disease occurs when cirrhosis has developed, typically after many years of having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If you have NASH and severe scarring in the liver, you may have some of the following signs and symptoms of cirrhosis:

Periods of fatigue
Severe itching
A swollen abdomen (Ascites)
Easy bruising and bleeding
Yellowish coloring of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
Spider-shaped blood vessels just beneath the skin's surface
Behavioral changes, difficulty speaking, and confusion (hepatic encephalopathy)

If someone with NAFLD/NASH develops cirrhosis, they also have some risk of developing a common type of liver cancer, which is hepatocellular carcinoma.