Fatty Liver Disease also known as Hepatic Steatosis was at one time thought to be associated with alcoholism. However in recent years there has been a big rise in diagnosis’s of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). As you can guess, like the name says, it is not connected to alcohol or alcoholism.
So why is it that incidents of a disease that was formerly only associated with alcohol abuse continues to rise in developed nations?
From WebMD, “Like the name says, alcohol isn’t involved in this condition. Instead, it results largely from metabolic syndrome, an umbrella term for a condition marked by high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol, insulin resistance, and large amounts of belly fat.”
A study conducted by the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at The National University Hospital that followed all patients who underwent a liver biopsy 1984-2009 at the National University Hospital of Iceland. The results were alarming.
“Fatty liver disease is clinically categorized into two main groups, alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is becoming one of the most common liver diseases worldwide [1] with a prevalence up to 30% in the general population [2] and it can progress to end-stage liver disease [3]. NAFLD is associated with insulin resistance, and has been considered to be the hepatic component of the metabolic syndrome [3–5]. Patients with NAFLD have been shown to have increased cardiovascular mortality compared to the general population [6, 7].”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182763/
Is it just me or do all these “diseases” like autoimmune disease, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, I’ve been writing about all appear to be associated with each other? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my mother and many others are all diagnosed with the same things AFTER going in for a pill they thought they needed because the news told them they have an invisible illness. I remember when Patty Duke came out on the news claiming she had an invisible illness, but that it was okay, they have a solution. This was about the time my mother was convinced I had to go to a doctor to request pills for my invisible illness! I distinctly remember the push for psych drugs on everyone at the time.
The Today show, in it’s article about why George Michael died, they warn, “Another type of liver disease is emerging, called Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, or NAFLD. It’s caused by being overweight or obese and consumption of too much sugar and processed carbohydrates, along with a sedentary lifestyle and components associated with metabolic syndrome. It’s quickly becoming the number one disease on the liver transplant list. This fatty liver disease affects 33 percent of the U.S. population, including 6 million children. In fact, it’s the number one liver condition in children.”
WHOA! 33% of us are now afflicted with this silent killer??? How did this happen? If you remember this article, Should I Be Concerned About PreDiabetes? statistics also claimed the same percentage, (one-third) of Americans are afflicted with prediabetes, even though we have no idea yet…amazing how our bodies just turned into ticking time bombs!
Here they say Researchers Surprised to Find Fatty Liver Disease Poses No Excess Risk for Death, so then why is there such a push to be treated for something that poses no excess risk??? And why would they claim it to be leading to liver transplants?
Read, The Liver disease you’ve Never Heard of affecting 80 – 100 million Americans!, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. “Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is predicted to eclipse hepatitis C as the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020, but I expect it may happen before then,” says Dr. Andrew Klein director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center at Cedars-Sinai.
I don’t want to sound alarmist or anything, but if my experience means anything, it goes a little something like this:
Jane Doe is a good citizen. She’s busy with a job and family, but still manages to have enough time to stay up to date on the news she believes is informing her. She reads an article about prediabetes and fatty liver, and on her next physical she asks her doctor if she could be one of the 33% of the populations suffering this disease. They run a blood test and call her in a few days to let her know that although her levels are on the high end of “normal,” she may benefit by an antidiabetic to ensure she doesn’t become a statistic and break out in full blown diabetes. Like a good patient, she trusts her doctor and the fact that if it was on the market, it has already proven to be safe. Jane goes to the pharmacy to pick up her new prescription and starts holding on to the fear that she could be sick and not even know it. (What do you think those fearful thoughts are doing her?)
Within a month, she starts experience symptoms she never had before. She starts to wonder, “I guess I really am sick! Good thing I made it in at such an early stage of my disease so they can really help me beat this.”
If you are over 30, I’m sure you know the rest of the story….she goes back to the doctor, tells of her newfound symptoms and the doctor assures her she will be okay because they have pills for that too! Within 2 years, Jane is on several medications and her blood glucose levels are no longer in the normal range and she is now told she has full blown diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease and a mental illness. Jane is now on 14 pills and her life as she knew it is over.
This nightmare has replaced the “American Dream” we all grew up to believe in. Doesn’t anyone else see something wrong with the most advanced nation in the world falling into all these illnesses all of a sudden? No worries, they creators of the disease have the solution!!!
“Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis showed progression to advanced liver disease within 10 years of diagnosis as well as increased risk for mortality, according to new data presented during the International Liver Congress 2019.
“NAFLD is not a benign condition,” Jerome Boursier, MD, PhD, from Angers University Hospital in Angers, France, said during a press conference. “We need to develop strategies for early identification of those patients at risk of liver-related complications and we need new effective treatments to avoid evolution to late stage of disease.”
https://www.healio.com/hepatology/steatohepatitis-metabolic-liver-disease/news/online/%7Bfc2179eb-10a5-4f96-89ab-4550d3137ef2%7D/fatty-liver-progresses-quickly-increasing-mortality-risk
So what has all this early identification and treatments shown us??? Increased drugs, increased disease and increased mortality!!! The evidence is clear that the drugs prescribed to treat these conditions are in fact instrumental in the death and progressed disease of the patient!
They Mayo Clinic suggests these methods to help control your NAFLD:
- Lose weight. If you’re overweight or obese, reduce the number of calories you eat each day and increase your physical activity in order to lose weight. Calorie reduction is the key to losing weight and managing this disease. If you have tried to lose weight in the past and have been unsuccessful, ask your doctor for help.
- Choose a healthy diet. Eat a healthy diet that’s rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and keep track of all calories you take in.
- Exercise and be more active. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. If you’re trying to lose weight, you might find that more exercise is helpful. But if you don’t already exercise regularly, get your doctor’s OK first and start slowly.
- Control your diabetes. Follow your doctor’s instructions to stay in control of your diabetes. Take your medications as directed and closely monitor your blood sugar.
- Lower your cholesterol. A healthy plant-based diet, exercise and medications can help keep your cholesterol and your triglycerides at healthy levels.
- Protect your liver. Avoid things that will put extra stress on your liver. For instance, don’t drink alcohol. Follow the instructions on all medications and over-the-counter drugs. Check with your doctor before using any herbal remedies, as not all herbal products are safe.
Control your diabetes and lower your cholesterol?!??! Are you starting to see a pattern here? So while there are no known medications specifically for NAFLD at this time, it is customary to offer statins and antidiabetics. I personally would choose the healthy diet and exercise option. After all, if these treatments were working, why is it that mortality rates keep rising? They admit my suspicion here that each of these diseases are related and even treated the same, according to doctors like Zobair M. Younossi, MD!
“There has been a 2.5-fold and 2-fold increases in the prevalence of NASH cirrhosis and NAFLD-associated advanced fibrosis, respectively, in 2009-2012 compared to 1999-2002. Extrapolation of NHANES data suggests that in 2010, 417,524 in the US had NASH cirrhosis, and 4,104,871 had NAFLD-associated advanced fibrosis. This represents a major disease burden and suggests the need for widespread programs to identify and treat those affected, and public health efforts aimed at controlling the burden of NAFLD and its complications.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28195177
Apparently, I’m not the only one that sees all these newfound diseases are in fact related and sometimes even interchangeable as evidenced in the medications prescribed and comorbidity statistics. This article claims they NEED long term treatment, meaning drugs for life, AND they treat it as diabetes!!! Who why all the different names for the same diseases???
Most experts agree that the future of NAFLD and NASH treatment with new therapeutics will require combination therapy and long-term application, due to the metabolic aspect of fatty liver disease.
“Given the complexity of this disease, you will ultimately need more than one drug to treat patients, and the combination of what you would need to treat these patients will probably depend on the phenotype of the patient,” Zobair M. Younossi, MD, chairman of the department of medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital, told Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease. “This is similar to diabetes, how we use different regimens and combine different drugs for a single patient.”
https://www.healio.com/gastroenterology/liver-biliary-disorders/news/print/healio-gastroenterology/%7b717c1a1e-f083-429a-8e96-efc29e0dd52d%7d/the-future-of-fatty-liver-from-education-to-anticipated-approvals
I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but it seems to be the evidence is clear. The prescribed drugs for these invisible illnesses are NOT WORKING, and in fact contribute to the very disease they claim to cure! I personally have witnessed way too many pharmaceutical deaths to mention so all I can do is ask you to look at the evidence and statistics, then look at those who got away from the dangerous drug spiral and looked to Nature to heal.
If I was diagnosed with one of these diseases…and I was...I would avoid medications at all costs and start detox, replacing fake foods and alcohol with a nutrient dense plant based diet, consider juicing lot’s of vegetables and look in to modifilan, which many of you know saved my life!!! There are also many herbs that are great for your liver and kidney like dandelions, red clover, parsley, hibiscus and garlic, as well as eat more berries and cruciferous and green leafy veggies! 🙂
As always only you can make the best decision for your health, and I feel it is important to be fully informed on all aspects of possibilities in regards to our health. Please check our other health related articles to help you connect the dots on why these diseases are so common today.
Blessings and Love,
Christie Aphrodite
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