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Fatty Liver

confused

By confused
in Related Issues & Disorders

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confused Community Regular
confused
Posted

I was reading another post about liver enzmes. And i started to think about the liver. My mom was diagnosed with a fatty liver last yr, when she was having bloating problems. So now im wodering could her fatty liver be connected to celiac. I really think there are lots of family members that have celiac, but just have never been tested.

paula

  • 3 weeks later...
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alyssasgabby Rookie
alyssasgabby
Posted
I was reading another post about liver enzmes. And i started to think about the liver. My mom was diagnosed with a fatty liver last yr, when she was having bloating problems. So now im wodering could her fatty liver be connected to celiac. I really think there are lots of family members that have celiac, but just have never been tested.

paula

I was just thinking of posting on this topic, and I came across your post so I thought I'd try to "bump" this back to the top to see if anyone knows anything.

Last June I had a Liver Biopsy done and was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease--more specifically "Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis" or NASH. Then in February I was dx'd with Celiac Disease. There is very little known about NASH, basically what they told me was that even though I don't drink except for a very RARE social drink (less than 10 per year), I have Liver Disease the same as someone who drinks and has Liver damage. My Biopsy shows me at "Level 1", meaning I just have to have my Liver Enzymes checked every 6 months or so to make sure that they are not climbing. There is no guarantee that not drinking will stop the disease from progressing. The Medical Association does not know what causes NASH, or what makes it worse. They have suggested High Triglycerides which can also be a problem for Celiacs.

I will try to remember to ask my MD about any possible links between Fatty Liver Disease and celiac disease at my appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to help answer some of your questions.

Meanwhile...anyone have any comments??

confused Community Regular
confused
Posted
  • Author
I was just thinking of posting on this topic, and I came across your post so I thought I'd try to "bump" this back to the top to see if anyone knows anything.

Last June I had a Liver Biopsy done and was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease--more specifically "Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis" or NASH. Then in February I was dx'd with Celiac Disease. There is very little known about NASH, basically what they told me was that even though I don't drink except for a very RARE social drink (less than 10 per year), I have Liver Disease the same as someone who drinks and has Liver damage. My Biopsy shows me at "Level 1", meaning I just have to have my Liver Enzymes checked every 6 months or so to make sure that they are not climbing. There is no guarantee that not drinking will stop the disease from progressing. The Medical Association does not know what causes NASH, or what makes it worse. They have suggested High Triglycerides which can also be a problem for Celiacs.

I will try to remember to ask my MD about any possible links between Fatty Liver Disease and celiac disease at my appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to help answer some of your questions.

Meanwhile...anyone have any comments??

Thank you for responding, please let me know what your MD says.

The NASH is exactly what they told her she had, they realy didnt tell her much, just not to drink or take any meds.

paula

Anonymousgurl Contributor
Anonymousgurl
Posted

Hi you guys...

I was going to post a topic about this too...but the only difference is that I'm not sure if I have a fatty liver or not, but I suspect that I have liver issues. I have terrible bloating just like you described...but I also have what feels like painful intestinal spasms, especially if I eat ANY kind of fatty acid. I can't digest ANY oils. When I even have a drop, it seems like my whole system starts to shut down. Has anyone heard of this or experienced this? About 6 months ago I believe my liver was tested and my enzymes were elevated, but that was all. At the time though, I dont know if I was having this much trouble digesting fat. But ANYWAYS...I just wanted to know what everyone thought :)

bluejeangirl Contributor
bluejeangirl
Posted

I was doing some research on high fructose corn syrup this weekend since its in everything the worse being soda which is whats getting children in trouble with weight and diabeties. I was amazed how bad it is for the liver. Not only that but just "fructose" which I always thought was better then table sugar. Well here's the results of a study that I copied and pasted.

" Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy--that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young.

"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Dr. Field, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."

Wow that just amazes me. I had no idea.

Gail

mn farm gal Apprentice
mn farm gal
Posted

wow Gail that is an interesting artical. I try to avoid Frutose because I feel ill when I get it. I now also try to avoid all sugars as much as I can.

alyssasgabby Rookie
alyssasgabby
Posted
Hi you guys...

I was going to post a topic about this too...but the only difference is that I'm not sure if I have a fatty liver or not, but I suspect that I have liver issues. I have terrible bloating just like you described...but I also have what feels like painful intestinal spasms, especially if I eat ANY kind of fatty acid. I can't digest ANY oils. When I even have a drop, it seems like my whole system starts to shut down. Has anyone heard of this or experienced this? About 6 months ago I believe my liver was tested and my enzymes were elevated, but that was all. At the time though, I dont know if I was having this much trouble digesting fat. But ANYWAYS...I just wanted to know what everyone thought :)

I am interested to know what your doctor's reaction to the elevated Liver Enzymes was. Is there a reason for them to be elevated? Are you taking any meds for high cholestrol that might raise your Liver Enzymes?

Unfortunately, the only way to test for Fatty Liver Disease is to have a Liver Biopsy done. It is not a fun procedure. Many doctors are not very educated in Fatty Liver Disease-I had a doctor say it was nothing to worry about, but on my own research found that it can lead to Liver Fibrosis and Fibrosis leads to Cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is not cureable and is fatal. Fatty Liver Disease is part of a condition called Metabolic Syndrome. You can ask your doctor if he/she is more familiar with that condition. Signs of Metabolic Syndrome include obesity, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, fat in the midline area of your body, Diabetes II.

I would suggest you press your doctor a little more on the elevated enzymes to see if there is a reason and what you can do to bring them back to normal levels. Hopefully this is just a temporary symptom for you!

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Anonymousgurl Contributor
Anonymousgurl
Posted
I am interested to know what your doctor's reaction to the elevated Liver Enzymes was. Is there a reason for them to be elevated? Are you taking any meds for high cholestrol that might raise your Liver Enzymes?

Unfortunately, the only way to test for Fatty Liver Disease is to have a Liver Biopsy done. It is not a fun procedure. Many doctors are not very educated in Fatty Liver Disease-I had a doctor say it was nothing to worry about, but on my own research found that it can lead to Liver Fibrosis and Fibrosis leads to Cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is not cureable and is fatal. Fatty Liver Disease is part of a condition called Metabolic Syndrome. You can ask your doctor if he/she is more familiar with that condition. Signs of Metabolic Syndrome include obesity, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, fat in the midline area of your body, Diabetes II.

I would suggest you press your doctor a little more on the elevated enzymes to see if there is a reason and what you can do to bring them back to normal levels. Hopefully this is just a temporary symptom for you!

Thanks for your response :)

Well, my elevated liver enzymes was one of the reasons that I left Kaiser. My Kaiser doctors kept telling me that they were finding abnormal things, didn't know why they were abnormal, so they just left them and figured it'd be okay, or I'd just have to live with it. They couldn't find a reason for my elevated liver enzymes, so they just left it alone. So I switched over to the alternative medicine world and I found a private M.D., who believes the elevated liver enzymes may be due to bacterial and viral infections, and parasites in my digestive system...but he can't be too sure. All he can do is treat the infections that he thinks are there, and see if my liver enzyme issue clears up along with it.

I don't have any of the issues that you've mentioned. I actually have the opposite of a lot of those issues! I don't take any meds that would elevate them. I'm not obese, I actually have the opposite problem. Due to not being able to digest ANY fatty acids (which i really think has to do with my liver!!!!), I fell to a dangerously low weight...about 50 pounds underweight. Currently I'm still about 20 pounds underweight. Maybe 30 pounds, considering my height. I don't have high blood pressure either, it's actually very very very low...it's come up a little bit with the tiny bit of weight gain i've been able to achieve, thank goodness.

Goodness, I really wish I could find some answers on this liver issue (and fatty acid intolerance)...because those illnesses sound so dangerous!

Thanks again for taking the time out to share all of this with me...

mamabear Explorer
mamabear
Posted

I was just thinking of posting on this topic, and I came across your post so I thought I'd try to "bump" this back to the top to see if anyone knows anything.

Last June I had a Liver Biopsy done and was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease--more specifically "Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis" or NASH. Then in February I was dx'd with Celiac Disease. There is very little known about NASH, basically what they told me was that even though I don't drink except for a very RARE social drink (less than 10 per year), I have Liver Disease the same as someone who drinks and has Liver damage. My Biopsy shows me at "Level 1", meaning I just have to have my Liver Enzymes checked every 6 months or so to make sure that they are not climbing. There is no guarantee that not drinking will stop the disease from progressing. The Medical Association does not know what causes NASH, or what makes it worse. They have suggested High Triglycerides which can also be a problem for Celiacs.

I will try to remember to ask my MD about any possible links between Fatty Liver Disease and celiac disease at my appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to help answer some of your questions.

Meanwhile...anyone have any comments??

Most of the research seems to have been done in 2004. There are definite connections between celiac disease and liver diseases, including NASH or NAFLD(nonalcoholic fatty liver disease). One article in Entrez Pub Med cites a 3.4% incidence of asymptomatic celiac disease in NASH.

Some studies show regression of elevated liver enzymes after gluten-free diet, but it is never ever a sure bet.

There are many other liver conditions associated with celiac disease...some autoimmune. Monitoring LFT's is a must, and avoiding liver toxic meds as well as alcohol is encouraged. There is no known cure for this..most patients are placed on a low fat diet as well. One local GI has suggested flaxseed as a good supplement for NASH patients. Also control of hyperlipidemias and diabetes is a must.

Checking for celiac in NASH ,especially with + family history or other + symptoms would be reasonable.

  • 3 weeks later...
JodiC Apprentice
JodiC
Posted

Do your liver enzymes go up and down with fatty liver or does it depend on what you eat etc? I was told this is my problem and to get the biopsy if symptoms persist. I haven't yet even though it is persisting. Does the biopsy hurt? Are you asleep for this or awake?

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