Contrary to popular belief, liver disease isn’t always related to excess alcohol intake.
The most common form of liver disease in Canada is Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), and the most common cause of fatty liver disease in Canada is obesity. Your risk of NAFLD increases if your body mass index (BMI) is over 30. Diabetes, resistance to insulin and increased levels of triglycerides—a type of fat—in the blood also increase your risk of liver disease.
The liver metabolizes the nutrients you absorb in the bowel, including fat; when there are more calories than the body requires, the excess calories are stored as fat and accumulate in the abdomen and liver.
Currently, there is no medication to effectively treat fatty liver disease; treatment is based on lifestyle modification, weight loss, and physical activity in order to reduce the amount of fat in the liver.
A fatty liver is a concern when you are having weight loss surgery. An article in Obesity Surgery details why this condition merits attention prior to having a bariatric procedure such as Lap-Band surgery:
The size and condition of the patient’s liver prior to surgical placement of the band is the primary safety concern of the surgeon. The left lobe of the liver is positioned over the site of the band placement and must be repositioned to allow the surgeon access to the site. An enlarged, fatty liver is common in the morbidly obese patient and can cause the surgeon difficulty during the procedure by obstructing the view or preventing completion of the procedure due to the increased risk of damage upon repositioning.[1]
Your adherence to the pre-operative regime recommended by your surgeon helps ensure a successful surgery and the best outcome to begin your new path to better health and healthy weight loss.
Learn more about NAFLD at the Canadian Liver Foundation’s site http://www.liver.ca/liver-disease/types/fatty-liver.aspx
Learn more about how the Lap-Band with SmartShape Weight Loss Centre could be the best choice for you, at https://www.smartshape.ca/band-comparisons/
[1] Fris, R.J. Preoperative Low Energy Diet Diminishes Liver Size. 2004, Obesity Surgery, Vol. 14, 1165-1170.