Fatty liver disease on the rise in Gujarat: How to prevent it?

• Fatty liver diseases are on the rise in Gujarat.
• Type II diabetes patients are at a higher risk of contracting liver diseases. 
•  Fatty liver results when too much fat is stored in liver cells, which prevents proper functioning of the organ.

People in Gujarat are seem to be dealing with severe dietary illnesses after data collected by a city-based hospital showed that it had received around 500 cases of liver ailments in the past one year. Moreover, over 50% of these patients were suffering from Type II diabetes.

Type II diabetes patients are at a higher risk of contracting liver cirrhosis, which causes irreversible scarring of the organ, revealed the study.

According to DNA, a study on South Gujarat, published in the Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, shows that there are higher chances of diabetes patients developing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

As the name suggests, fatty liver basically means too much fat stored in liver cells, which in turn can prevent the organ from functioning properly.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a term used for a range of liver conditions that affect people who drink little or no alcohol.

The disease is linked to overweight or obesity, insulin resistance, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides in the blood. The disease is trickier as it usually shows no signs and symptoms. However, a patient can sometimes feel pain in the upper right abdomen, fatigue, and enlarged stomach.

Fortunately, the disease can be treated by losing weight through a healthy diet and exercise. According to a study published in the Medscape, a low-fat diet or the Mediterranean diet really helps in curing fatty liver disease.

Mediterranean diet includes mostly includes consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, olive oil, fish and almost no meat.

Weight-loss surgery is also an option for those who need to lose a lot of weight.

Around 9-32% of general population in India suffers from NAFLD and the numbers have doubled in the last 20 years, according to a 2017 study published in International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences

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