What is the difference between fatty liver and hepatitis

If you have hepatitis C your chances of developing fatty liver disease is higher than developing the disease by itself. Typically, we see two types of fatty liver disease in people with hepatitis C:. You can actually have both forms of fatty liver disease simultaneously.

Both forms of the disease have a negative effect on hepatitis C symptoms. How are these diseases treated and when should you see a doctor? A diagnosis of hepatitis C is confirmed through a blood test. To confirm the diagnosis of fatty liver, your doctor may order an ultrasound or CT scan to get a view of the liver. Your doctor may also order a liver biopsy to see how far the disease has progressed. While there is no medication specifically for fatty liver disease, treatment of hepatitis C has evolved over the last decade.

Currently, hepatitis C can be treated with oral antiviral medications like Sofosbuvir with Velpatasvir. The typical regimen consists of daily oral medications for weeks. Hepatitis C can be eradicated in most cases with current antiviral medications. Your viral load will be measured about 12 weeks after treatment to confirm that the virus has been wiped out. If you also have fatty liver disease, doctors typically focus on helping you make lifestyle changes that make the condition worse.

Some of these treatments may include:. Liver enzyme levels over time over a median of three years of follow-up were higher in people with steatohepatitis. The lack of a comparison group of people with HIV alone, or hepatitis B alone, makes it difficult to tell whether either infection is exacerbating fatty liver disease in coinfected people, say Dr Naga Chalasani of Indiana University and Dr Tinsay Woreta of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in an accompanying editorial.

They say that longer-term comparative studies would enable greater understanding of fatty liver disease in this population. Khalili M et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 1 September Woreta T, Chalasani N. Liver disease. Primary tabs View active tab Preview. Keith Alcorn. Glossary non-alcoholic fatty liver disease NAFLD Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease NAFLD is a very common disorder and refers to a group of conditions where there is accumulation of excess fat in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol.

There is no specific treatment to clear acute HCV from the body, nor is there treatment which will prevent it from becoming persistent, but keeping hydrated and taking pain relief will ease some of the symptoms. Alcohol and smoking should be avoided. Treatment for chronic HCV aims to achieve a sustained virological response SVR , which means that the virus is undetectable after six months from completing the treatment. A hepatologist liver specialist or gastroenterologist will advise on current treatment.

The prognosis can be very good, but it must be remembered that the new liver may also eventually become damaged by the persistent HCV.

Lifestyle changes should be made by anyone suffering from chronic HCV, whereby a healthy balanced diet should be followed. The liver will already be inflamed due to the HCV.

Hepatitis D is caused by the hepatitis D virus. It only affects people who are already infected with hepatitis B, as it needs the hepatitis B virus to be able to survive in the body. As with hepatitis B, hepatitis D is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact or sexual contact. It is more widespread in other parts of Europe, eastern Mediterranean region, and South America. Like Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E is passed on via poo and is prevalent due to poor hygiene and sanitation.

When travelling to parts of the world with poor sanitation, where epidemic hepatitis E may be common, you can reduce your risk by practicing good food and water hygiene measures 1. This means the virus can be found in animals such as pigs, wild boar, deer, rabbits and rats. A healthy liver should contain little or no fat and for most people, carrying a small amount of fat in the liver causes no major problems.

Having high levels of fat in your liver is also associated with an increased risk of problems such as diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. Fatty liver is a reversible condition that can be resolved by establishing a healthy lifestyle. It does not cause permanent damage unless it is allowed to progress.

If fat has been in the liver for a prolonged amount of time, the liver cells can become inflamed and the term NASH Non Alcoholic Steato Hepatitis is then used. NASH may progress, like many liver diseases, to cirrhosis and liver cancer. See the diagram below:. In the early stages, the liver can function normally despite being damaged.

Occasionally, people with NASH or fibrosis more advanced stages of the disease may experience:. Patients tend to get noticeable symptoms as their liver becomes more severely damaged. As the condition progresses, you may also experience:.

Therefore, the condition may also be diagnosed during an ultrasound scan. This is a type of scan where sound waves are used to create an image of the inside of your body. This may involve a special blood test or having another type of ultrasound scan, such as a Fibroscan. This interaction is not seen in other genotypes. It also seems that the severity of steatosis in these patients is directly related to their viral load.

The higher the viral load, the greater the amount of steatosis. This link has not been observed in other genotypes. Sometimes people with genotype 3 who achieve sustained virologic response SVR through treatment have a marked decrease in and sometimes a complete resolution of steatosis. If they relapse though, steatosis reappears. People with other genotypes show no improvement in the level of steatosis after successful treatment.

Many people with steatosis experience no symptoms. Symptoms that people do experience are non-specific and liver enzyme levels are not necessarily raised.

As with fibrosis the definitive way to diagnose steatosis is a liver biopsy. It is well known that there is a definite link between the severity of steatosis and the extent of scarring on the liver. Recent studies have shown that higher grades of steatosis relate to higher grades of scarring with more rapid development of fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Steatosis is also known to reduce the likelihood of responding to hepatitis C treatment. It may also contribute to the development of liver cancer hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC in those with cirrhosis. Few studies have yet separated the two types of steatosis when examining its effects on fibrosis progression in people with hepatitis C. It has been suggested, but not confirmed, that when people with genotype 3 have both forms of steatosis, the combination may trigger severe advancement of fibrosis.