Fatty Liver

When I was diagnosed with Hep C, the ultrasound I had showed moderate fatty liver.  I am not overweight and did not drink a lot of alcohol before dx, so I assume the fatty liver has been caused by the Hep C.  I am now SVR.  Does anyone know if the fatty liver will now get better because I no longer have the virus?  If not, what can you do to get rid of fatty liver if you're not overweight?

[Kristina538]

I'm a G3 and I've read that G3's are more likely to get fatty liver, and that it does improve after tx.    I can't be sure about G2's, but, if you are SVR, your liver should improve slowly over time if you look after yourself and I would hope that says the same for fatty liver.   I'm hoping to have an ultrasound soon, so I can check on progress.

[desrt]

Kristina:

I had ultrasounds 1 year post-tx and 5 years post-tx. Both showed steatosis and there was no noticeable change. Doesn't mean there wasn't change -  just ultrasound isn't the best tool for gauging this. Now that I've been on an insulin sensitizer for a year and lost weight, I may get another for comparison.


alwaysconfused:

There are drugs which will improve fatty liver infiltration - I believe Avandia is one - but I understand they come with their own set of side effects.

[hopeforall108]

Hi I also have fatty liver, and supposedly it can be reduced or even completely reversed with special diet and excersise, just google it and you'll get a load of information. Now I'm not sure if the dieting would help for hep c related fatty liver svr or still infected but it has to be worth a go, right?

[newleaf09]

I read that removing the virus can resolve fatty liver.  Will have another biopsy (by choice) in June, 1 year after TX and let you know.  Will also try to find the time to find the reference where I read that resolution of hep C can resolve fatty liver (showed up on my pre-TX testing, too.)

[newleaf09]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16557185
This will get you started.  I used search terms 'fatty liver resolution HCV' and a lot of articles came up.

[enolia]

Hello

what do you mean by G2 or G3?

[mikesimon]

G2 = genotype 2  / G3 = genotype 3

[Rockerforlife]

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one cause of fatty liver changes, when fat is deposited (steatosis) in the liver when this is not due to excessive alcohol use. It is related to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, and may respond to treatments originally developed for other insulin-resistant states (e.g. diabetes mellitus type 2), such as weight loss, metformin and thiazolidinediones.[1] Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most extreme form of NAFLD, which is regarded as a major cause of cirrhosis of the liver of unknown cause.[2]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-alcoholic_fatty_liver_disease