What is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? How can it permanently damage your liver?

One in five Hong Kong people with a BMI of less than 25 kg/m2, one has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. For people with a BMI of more than 25 kg/m2 (men with a waist circumference of more than 36 inches and women with a waist circumference of more than 32 inches), the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is 61%, the incidence of steatohepatitis is 41%, and the incidence of liver fibrosis is 61%. 33%. So it cannot be ignored.

Fatty liver is a general term for diseases characterized by accumulation of fat in the liver. In non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a layer of fat surrounds the liver, and the condition is not associated with alcohol consumption. As the name suggests, the main characteristic of NAFLD is excess fat stored in liver cells.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is most often associated with other negative health indicators, such as high blood sugar levels, making it a cause of dangerous disease. It is a debilitating disease that goes through many stages until it reaches liver cancer. But usually this process is asymptomatic and symptoms do not appear until it is irreversible.

In its later stages, NAFLD can lead to permanent liver damage such as steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer. Unfortunately, most people only discover it when they are checked for some other health problem. This is how liver damage from NAFLD silently progresses.

Therefore, you need to undergo regular, accurate and quantitative liver health (fatty liver and liver fibrosis) examinations such as Fibroscan fatty liver and liver fibrosis examination, which can give you comprehensive, safe, non-invasive, radiation-free and painless liver health examine.