Friday, January 25, 2008
Liver Health Problems
Watch that fatty liver
A sensible diet, adequate exercise and not too much alcohol will help the liver stay healthy.
In the initial stages, there may be no inflammation but if left untreated, the condition can cause serious scarring or damage to the organ
When Ms Maneka Shetty, 31, went for her health check last November, she was shocked by the results.
The report showed an abnormal reading when it came to her liver function tests.
The investment banker had attributed her increased fatigue to the volume of work she was handling.
She had been travelling more often for work over the past year and her diet had been erratic: too much rich food at meetings with clients, along with a drink or two after work with colleagues. She was also desk-bound the rest of the time and did not exercise.
'I was so tired on weekends that all I did was to sleep,' she said.
She was diagnosed with simple fatty liver (steatosis). This is a condition in which fat accumulates within the liver without actually causing any liver damage.
But if left untreated, it can go on to cause more serious scarring or damage to the liver.
Ms Shetty was advised to start an exercise regime, lose weight and cut out alcohol.
According to Dr Lui Hock Fong, a consultant gastroenterologist and physician who runs a liver clinic, the liver is fairly resilient but accumulates damage over the years.
'I think we tend to take health for granted when we are young and take on habits that add on to potentially burden the liver,' he said.
Most working professionals may not feel anything in terms of symptoms but, depending on lifestyles, mild damage might have already occurred, Dr Lui said.
One of the more common liver conditions related to lifestyle is a fatty liver.
'It can range from simple fatty liver with no inflammation to more serious scarring and ultimately cirrhosis, where the liver is permanently scarred,' Dr Lui said.
The risk factors for fatty liver are being overweight, having a family history of obesity, high cholesterol levels and a sedentary lifestyle.
'If you do not expend enough energy, then all those calories are stored as fat. The liver can store fat but, in excess, it will cause inflammation,' he said.
Several factors like genetics and gender can also influence the health of the liver. 'For instance, studies have shown that Orientals tolerate less alcohol than Caucasians and that women tolerate less alcohol than men,' he said.
While there are no specific rules on how much Asians should drink, Dr Lui advises that a drink a day for women, and two for men, is probably safe.
He also cautioned against mixing drinks with medication.
'It's best not to combine Panadol (acetaminophen) with alcohol. While this drug is safe when taken according to advice, it can cause acute liver injury in case of overdose,' he said.
With people who drink more than the recommended amounts of alcohol, over-the-counter medication can sometimes cause liver injury at normal doses.
Dr Lui said simple lifestyle measures like getting adequate exercise, eating a sensible diet and watching the amount of social drinking go a long way in keeping the liver healthy.
- SHEFALI SRINIVAS
Labels: liver health problem
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Fatty Liver
Fatty liver disease
Fatty liver: Is addicted to alcohol the calamity. Drinks must have controls
Recently, the staff of some unit organizations experience and discovered that those addicted to alcohol, especially middle-aged male, have multi-trouble fatty liver. It was believed that this was the ethyl alcohol that harmed the liver. About 31%~50% of retinitis simplex alcoholic fatty liver patient simultaneously merges approximately around the vein of the fibrosis, this kind of situation will developed liver cirrhosis in about 2 years.
Chronic excessive drinking is the most common cause for fatty liver disease. Many overseas research indicated that the amount of alcohol intake have a direct impact on alcoholic fatty liver’s occurrence. 90 % of the ethyl alcohol metabolised in the liver. It can affect the fat metabolism, and finally causes liver fat stack.
The pathology inspection multi-performance are tumescent for the liver diffused, the liver weight often reaches normal liver's 2~3 times, the liver turn yellow in color. Under the mirror, the fat changes mainly see in the liver acinus distributed to area 2 and 3 , that serious fills the distribution, greatly displays to soak the fatty liver, primarily the liver agglomerates the fat in the triglyceride. Changes to the fat may divide into (fat mildly changes the liver cell accounts at 30%~0%), moderate (fat changes liver cell accounts at 50%~75%), specific weight (the fat changes liver cell > 75%). The patient discovered that generally, the liver to be tumescent, liver area pain and tenderness, and is accompanied by mild jaundice symptom.
Most alcoholic fatty liver patients are reversible, after stops drinking, the fatty liver vanishes gradually. Drinking alcohol excessively may cause the liver cell to have fatty degeneration; necrosis repeatedly, ultimately develops alcoholic hepatitis and the alcoholic liver cirrhosis, if serious, life may be endangered. Fatty liver patient occasionally may sudden death, this is the result of multiple brain and lung fat embolism. Alcoholic fatty liver is a preventability illness sickness, therefore should propagandize the hazardous nature vigorously, which is addicted to alcohol. Educate the people to have enough understanding of the sickness and to take it seriously, primarily to strive to achieve prevention, and “early discovered, early diagnoses early, early treatment”, to minimize the sickness.
Alcoholic fatty liver patient often lack the protein quantity and insufficient multivitamins, organism nutrition condition's change are closely related. Nutrition support treatment to improves the alcoholic liver disease's prognosis to be absolutely effective. Regarding the alcoholic liver disease patient's treatment, stopping drinking is the most important measure, simultaneously deals with the patient to carry on the nutrition condition appraisal. If the existence protein quantity of heat is insufficient, then high quantity of heat protein is required. High protein intake is to correct malnutrition richly including the Vitamin diet.
Presently it is believed that long-term positive nutrition treatment regarding alcoholic liver disease, what specially the alcoholic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis patient are necessary is precisely reasonable.
Labels: fatty liver, fatty liver disease
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Belly Dancing, Belly Dance or Belly Dancer
Actually, I am not blogging about belly dancing,dancer,dance or even belly fat. The article below was from the New York Times, picture with compliment from Straits Times. It is interesting, read on.
Title: Debunking the beer belly
THE CLAIM: The calories from alcohol go to your midsection.
THE FACTS: The phenomenon is known by many names: spare tyre, beer belly, beer gut. But do the calories from alcohol congregate in the midsection at a greater rate than the calories from other sources? That is not so clear.
In general, drinking causes weight gain primarily because alcohol slows the body's ability to burn fat for energy, not to mention that it increases appetite.
The effects of alcohol on the midsection are complicated, but studies show pretty clearly that beer, wine and spirits have a greater effect on belly fat in adults who drink sporadically than in people who drink regularly but in small amounts.
In one study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2003, a group of scientists studied more than 2,300 drinkers and non-drinkers and found, after controlling a number of variables, that those who averaged a single drink per day had the lowest levels of abdominal fat.
Those who drank occasionally but had four or more drinks in one sitting had the greatest levels. Several other studies have shown similar results.
One theory is that drinking regularly increases the amount of enzymes that break down alcohol. More research is still needed.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Moderate drinking does not seem to increase abdominal fat. Excessive drinking might.
- New York Times
Labels: belly dance, belly dancer, belly dancing
