Fatty Liver in India: Causes, Symptoms & When to Seek Help

Fatty Liver in India: Causes, Symptoms & When to Seek Help

Fatty liver disease is pretty common in India, affecting tonnes of folks. This article will go over what causes it, what the symptoms are, and when you should see a doctor about it if you're in India. Dr Sawan Bopanna is an associate director in gastroenterology, hepatology, and endoscopy in New Delhi. He's got 13+ years under his belt and is known as a great doctor when it comes to liver and stomach problems. He used to be a senior consultant at the Max Centre for Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy at Max Superspeciality Hospital, Saket. He is now serving as the Associate Director at the Action Institute of Liver and GI Sciences, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, New Delhi.

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Fatty Liver: what are the causes?

Fatty liver is a condition where fats are deposited in the liver. The leading factors for fatty liver are:

  • Obesity: Fatty liver is more common among obese people.
  • High sugar consumption: A very high sugar diet, especially the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, can lead to fatty liver.
  • Insulin resistance: If the body becomes resistant to insulin, the liver can be turned into a fat storage organ.
  • Alcohol: One of the major causes of fatty liver is heavy alcohol consumption.
  • Genetics: If you have a genetic predisposition to fatty liver from birth, you will probably get the disease.

Fatty Liver Disease Symptoms

Usually, in the beginning, you won't notice anything if you have fatty liver disease. But as it gets worse, you might feel:

  • Fatigue
  • A pain or just a weird feeling in your upper right belly area
  • Your belly swelling up
  • Your skin and eyes turning yellow (jaundice)
  • Your skin itching

If you are having any of these symptoms, it is recommended that you see a doctor for a check-up and possible treatment.

When to Seek Help

Do you think you might have fatty liver disease? A professional like Dr Sawan Bopanna should definitely be the one to confirm it with a second opinion. Besides preventing the disease from progressing to a stage that causes complications, the early diagnosis along with the treatment can actually make you feel better. Further, in case you already have some sort of diagnosis, it is highly imperative that you strictly follow the advice of your doctors and implement all the relevant lifestyle changes in a bid to control such a disease. Fatty liver disease is a very common health issue, which is highly prevalent in India, although it is largely overlooked. In an attempt to maintain a healthy liver, it is the need of the hour to understand the reasons behind the failure of the liver, be familiar with the symptoms, and then understand at what stage it is necessary to seek medical advice. In case of any confusion, one could definitely seek advice from Dr Sawan Bopanna.