Each patient's circumstances vary and one or more of the following treatments may be required:
1. Treatment for the cause
It is mainly aimed at controlling pre-existing diseases and risk factors, such as: obese patients lose weight, eat less greasy and high-calorie foods; patients with hyperlipidemia control diet and adjust diet structure; type 2 diabetes patients actively control blood sugar. Treatment may vary from situation to situation, as directed by a physician.
2. Control food intake and moderate exercise
This is the key to treatment.
Patients with fatty liver should undergo a calorie restrict diet (CRD), which refers to a daily reduction of 500 to 1000 kcal on top of the target energy intake.
That is, the recommended daily energy intake is 1200 to 1400 kcal for male patients and 1000 to 1200 kcal per day for female patients. Roughly speaking, eating about a third less at each meal is about the same; if you want to calculate and control it precisely, you can consult a dietitian to develop a targeted recipe.
Supplemented by exercise: Aerobic exercise is recommended in combination with resistance training as a form of exercise for weight loss.
At least 60 min a day - high-intensity aerobic exercise, such as jump rope, swimming.
Among them, there are at least 3 days of high-intensity aerobic exercise per week, such as spinning, martial arts, etc.
Resistance exercise and bone weight-bearing exercise 2 to 3 times a week can be done with the help of instruments such as dumbbells, sandbags, rubber bands, or resistance to self-resistance, including sit-ups, flat supports, pull-ups, squat jumps, etc.
After the body gradually adapts, the two can be combined to achieve better results.
Image source: Figureworm Creative
3. Medication
Patients with high blood lipids can take lipid-lowering drugs, such as statins and fibrate lipid-lowering drugs;
Patients with diabetes mellitus should optimize the glycemic control regimen and add diguanidine or thiazolidinedione hypoglycemic drugs according to the situation;
If a patient is confirmed by liver biopsy with a nonalcoholic fatty liver and liver fibrosis stage ≥2 but without diabetes, vitamin E therapy may be given after a full weighing of the pros and cons.
4. Surgery
Bariatric surgery may be considered in patients who are particularly obese and unable to reduce their weight through dieting and exercise; liver transplantation may be considered in patients with advanced development of cirrhosis of the liver in advanced fatty liver disease, severe impairment or failure of liver function.
The author of the entry
Lilac Doctor Health Encyclopedia team
Audit specialists
Geng Wei is the deputy chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology