Fatty liver disease This is how a fatty liver can be reversed

Fatty liver can be avoided and cured through diet and exercise

It has long been known that improper eating habits and other risk factors such as high alcohol consumption can make the liver sick. But lack of exercise also promotes the development of liver disease. Through regular exercise and diet, such diseases can be avoided and cured as well.

Every third German has a fatty liver

According to health experts, more than one third of Germans have fatty liver disease. In the past, alcohol and fatty foods were the main causes of fatty liver disease. But in recent years it has been shown that the most common liver disease in Germany is increasingly triggered by a poor lifestyle and unhealthy diet. Since our liver suffers silently, many sufferers suspect nothing of their disease, which can have serious consequences.

In addition to high alcohol consumption and improper nutrition, lack of exercise is one of the main causes of fatty liver. By dieting and regular exercise the disease can be avoided and cured as well. (Image: magicmine / fotolia.com)

Lack of exercise makes you sick

"Among the causes that usually lead to combinations of fatty liver disease, in addition to improper diet, lack of exercise and obesity, heavy alcohol consumption or existing diabetes mellitus," explains Professor. Michael P. Manns, CEO of the German Liver Foundation, in a statement published by the Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw).

But: "A fatty liver disease can also be caused by rare genetic causes. This should be considered especially in lean patients with severe fatty liver disease. "

As the communication states, liver experts agree that only a doctor's visit can give certainty.

In order for a diseased liver to be detected at an early stage of the disease and cured through a lifestyle change, testing liver blood counts is important. However, this is usually not part of the routine examinations.

Especially overweight people and patients with diabetes mellitus should therefore discuss and clarify possible liver disease at the doctor's visit.

Fatty liver can lead to cancer

Physicians distinguish between a non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and an alcoholic fatty liver (AFL) - it is often difficult to make this distinction clearly.

In the first stage of the disease, both disease variants are pure fatty liver, which has no inflammatory reactions.

In the second phase, which develops every second person affected, the liver already shows inflammatory reactions, it is called a steatohepatitis.

From this fatty liver hepatitis, liver fibrosis (connective tissue proliferation) and later cirrhosis of the liver (scarring of the liver) may develop.

Liver cancer is one of the possible sequelae of inflamed fatty liver.

No approved drug treatment

So far there is no recognized drug treatment of fatty liver.

"Currently, different drugs with different modes of action are in different stages of development. Reducing body weight in any case leads to the reduction of liver fat and fibrosis, "explains Professor Manns.

This direct correlation between body weight, fitness level and liver health is confirmed by more and more current study results.

Already a weight reduction of over ten percent causes in most cases the regression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and an improvement in liver fibrosis.

Also scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) reported a few years ago, together with colleagues of Helmholtz Zentrum München, that fasting can reduce fatty liver in a timely manner. (Ad)