You can spot a symptom of a silent killer that more than one in three adults live with while brushing your teeth, experts have said....CONTINUE READING
More than one in three adults is living with a liver disorder known as MAFLD, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease. The disease, which can be caused by consuming too much fast food and fizzy drinks can have serious consequences
if left untreated. While MAFLD can be hard to spot, patients can show no symptoms for a long time, if left untreated it can pose a severe risk to health. The longer the condition goes unnoticed, the more damage is done to the liver. In the most severe and final stage, fatty liver disease can cause cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis is a scarring of the liver that can occur as a result of long-untreated damage to the liver, Bristol Live
reports. Doctors explain this is the scarring of the liver that occurs over a period of years. It says on the NHS
website: “Your liver may keep working even when you have cirrhosis. However, cirrhosis can eventually lead to liver failure, and you can get serious complications, which can be life-threatening.”
The NHS guidance says there is one telltale symptom of cirrhosis that will be noticeable when brushing your teeth. This is bleeding gums
, people might also experience frequent nosebleeds and bruising. As your liver becomes more damaged, other symptoms might be: feeling very tired and weak, feeling sick (nausea), losing your appetite, losing weight and muscle mass, getting red patches on your palms and small, spider-like blood vessels on your skin (spider angiomas) above waist level
If cirrhosis gets worse, some of the symptoms and complications include yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), vomiting blood, itchy skin, dark pee and tarry-looking poo, bleeding or bruising easily, swollen legs (oedema) or tummy (ascites) from a build-up of fluid, loss of sex drive (libido).
People are advised to see a GP if they think have cirrhosis. Cirrhosis takes a long time to develop, it happens after the liver becomes inflamed from a build-up of excess fat which can lead to impaired function. After years of inflammation, Cirrhosis can take hold making the liver scarred, lumpy and shrunken. The liver performs more than 500 bodily functions including converting food consumed into energy as well as removing toxins from your blood.
Diagnosis of MAFLD, previously termed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, has soared in the last three decades according to a new study from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics
. According to a survey by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NAFLD rose from 16 per cent in 1988 to 37 per cent in 2018, an increase of 131 per cent.
The risk factors associated with the development of fatty liver disease include type 2 diabetes, underactive thyroid, high blood pressure
, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity), being over the age of 50, and smoking. Obesity or being overweight is also a risk factor, particularly if you have a lot of fat around your waist.
