Re: Fatty Liver

Posted By HFHSM.D.-rf on October 07, 1998 at 04:48:27:

In Reply to: Fatty Liver posted by Stephanie on September 29, 1998 at 11:37:46:






My mother has been diagnosed with a fatty liver.  She has also had breast cancer and she has diabetes(takes insulin twice daily).  The doctor will not tell her anything about this disease or how to treat it.  She has abdominal pain continuously which hurts her all the way around her waist. She does not consume any alcohol.  What can she do to treat this disease?
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Dear Stephanie,
Fatty liver (excessive accumulation of fat in liver cells) is a common condition.  In your mother's case, the hepatic steatosis is most likely the result of the diabetes mellitus although if she has lost a lot of weight as a result of the breast cancer, there could be other contributing factors.  Abdominal pain is usually not a major symptom of fatty liver.  Patients are diagnosed by liver biopsy as part of the workup for asymptomatic elevations of liver tests.  If pain is your mother's major problem, she should undergo additional testing by her doctor looking for other possible causes.
This information is presented for educational purposes only.  Always consult your personal physician for specific medical questions.
HFHSM.D.-rf
*keywords: abdominal pain, fatty liver
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