What is the outlook for patients with fatty liver?

If the fatty changes in the liver increase, inflammation and fibrous tissue may build up in the liver and more severe symptoms will start to occur. The liver gradually becomes enlarged and distorted by the fat building up inside it and its ability to function is compromised. If nothing is done to improve the liver function the patient will become more overweight and the quality of life will gradually diminish. Diabetes is a common result of fatty liver which has not received the correct treatment. The type of fatty liver known as Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis or NASH is a much more severe form of fatty liver than “simple fatty liver.” In NASH there is much more liver inflammation, and this can easily progress to severe liver scarring and liver failure known as cirrhosis. Factors which make it more likely that fatty liver will progress to the severe form include –
  • Lack of motivation to change the diet and lifestyle – this is often associated with stress and depression and treatment for the depression can work wonders in improving motivation.
  • Obesity
  • Female gender
  • Older age group
  • Diabetes especially if it is poorly controlled
  • The co-existence of other liver diseases such as hepatitis C and B or haemochromatosis (iron overload)
Observation studies over 3.5 years to 11 years following patients with fatty liver disease have found the following approximate outcomes-
  • 28% progressed to severe liver disease
  • 59% had only slight progression
  • 13% had improvement in their liver
I am sure that these results could be totally changed around if patients knew how to use nutritional medicine correctly. Of all the organs in the body, the liver is most able to repair and regenerate itself and it is possible to totally reverse fatty liver disease; I have seen this many times. It is usually possible to normalise liver function within 6 months. To totally reverse the cellular physical damage in the liver and remove all the unhealthy fat from the liver, it may take from several months to several years, depending upon the degree of fatty liver that you have. However you will start to feel much better and totally rejuvenated within 6 weeks if you follow the correct program which we will describe in future editions of this Liverish Newsletter. If you are overweight, the fact that you have a fatty liver, will make the weight loss slow initially; this is because it is necessary to remove the fat from the liver before you can start to lose weight efficiently. A fatty liver has forgotten how to burn fat; it has become habituated to storing fat. The removal of the excess unhealthy fat from the liver is a gradual process, and this is why weight loss is slow initially; remember that it took quite a few years to get your liver into such a fatty state, so a little patience to heal it will be required on your part! However feel fortunate, as if you had not realized that you had a fatty liver, you would have become more overweight and probably diabetic. As our motto says “Love your liver and live longer!” For the outcome of our clinical study on fatty liver click here Stay tuned- Next newsletter we are going to discuss some of the vital principles to reverse a fatty liver!