What is meant by fatty liver?
Normally, the liver contains up to 5% fat as a source of energy. Our current diet ensures that more fat is stored under the skin, in the abdomen and liver. Not only unhealthy food can cause fatty liver, medicines and alcohol can also do this.
Figure: prevalence of fatty liver disease in the world.
Fatty liver is the most common liver disease and affects an average of 25% of the world's population. This means that approximately 1.95 billion people have a fatty liver (see figure above). Also in the Netherlands and Belgium, about 25% of people have a fatty liver. Fatty liver is common in overweight and obese individuals. Currently, about 50% of the adult population is overweight and this number is unfortunately increasing. It is expected that soon even more people will have a fatty liver.
Figure: an enlargement of an excess of fat in the liver.
The excess of fat stored in the liver cell poses a threat to the proper functioning of the liver. The fat droplets in the cells push the essential organs in the cell away (see figure above). As a result, the cell can no longer function normally and slowly dies because, for example, the cell organs (mitochondria) that provide the energy can no longer work properly. The immune system clears these cells, which can lead to inflammation of the liver if this occurs in many cells at the same time.
On the other hand, the disturbed liver function also has an effect on all organs that depend on the liver for, for example, the distribution of sugars, proteins and fats and the detoxification of degradation products.