Fatty Liver Disease?

[jlbattin]

So my GI doctor's nurse called back to see how I was doing with the medication and to tell me the results of the sonogram. No gall stones but some fatty liver disease. She also said that wouldn't contribute to my side pains (which I'm sure at this point are all related to the MC). That's all she could tell me and when I asked her if I should be concerned, she said, "He didn't indicate that was a problem." So, I looked it up on the web and since I don't drink, I'm guessing because I've been a little overweight, or something like that. I'm wondering about the gluten connection. Anyone have any experience with this?

[tex]

Jari,

Gluten sensitivity is definitely a known cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Other causes

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a systemic immune-related disorder related to gluten sensitivity and accompanied by anti-tissue transglutaminase and anti-endomysial antibodies. Patients with celiac disease often have elevated transaminase levels, and they carry an increased risk of developing fatty liver, hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis [Ludvigsson et al. 2007]. However, the pathogenesis of fatty liver in celiac disease is not well understood [Abdo et al. 2004]. Adherence to a gluten-free diet is the standard therapy for celiac disease, although its impact on NAFLD has not been well studied.

Secondary causes of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

According to research we found for our book, "Recognizing Celiac Disease" 3.4% of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease have SILENT Celiac Disease. That means they don't have symptoms. Most patients DO NOT have gastrointestinal symptoms.

The good news is that studies showed liver enzymes can normalize after 6 months on a gluten-free diet. If you or your family members have non-alcoholic fatty liver (cirrhosis), but have not been tested for celiac disease, get tested and give them this information so they can get tested. And if they test negative, try the diet anyway because we've seen time and time again that the test are NOT 100% accurate.

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Gluten

From a discussion about celiac disease:

In many people suffering with these disorders there may be little or no obvious presentation of symptoms beyond fatigue. What concerns the medical community is that often the only sign is an incidental finding of elevated liver enzymes resulting from the chronic state of toxicity and inflammation that gluten intolerance can cause. Unfortunately, when it gets to this point, liver disease is already occurring. Numerous studies have demonstrated the following correlations between gluten intolerance and liver disorders:

Celiacs have 2 to 6x greater risk of developing liver disease.

Prior liver disease has 4 to 6x greater risk of Celiac disease.

Celiac is associated with 8x greater risk of death from liver cirrhosis.

Celiacs are 20x more likely to develop primary biliary cirrhosis.

What’s happening is that the inability to properly digest and process gluten creates a chronic state of inflammation which leads to “leaky gut” syndrome. This allows toxins and pathogenic organisms to infiltrate the blood, presenting a chronic toxic overload to the liver. The long-term outcome of this is often non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the “gateway disorder” that can progress to other more serious liver diseases. At this point, liver enzyme levels will be elevated.

Gluten’s Role in Liver Disease and 7 Ways to Protect Yourself

I'll bet a GF cookie that your NAFLD issues will resolve after your diet changes have time to heal your gut.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

in line with Tex's response, my mother who has crohns, (well had crohns, as she has stoma now) anyways her liver function tests always came back with issues, like she was a regular, slightly heavy drinker. She wasnt. She would maybe have one drink every few weeks.

after discussions with me, she now realises it was the inflammation, caused by Gluten, and Dairy etc the leaky gut issues from ongoing inflammation and the high level of particles that end up being filtered by the liver.

this is another reason/encouragement for MC'ers to stick to a low inflammation eating plan and avoid triggers.

[jlbattin]

Tex and Gabes,

Thanks for all your help. I really do not know what I would do without the support and guidance of this board. I had done some reading and it sounds like fatty liver disease is actually quite common and I would bet that a lot of people have it that don't know they do. I will follow up with my PCP in a month or two and have him check my liver enzymes. But my chiropractor thought it might get resolved with my diet changes. I'm not going to allow it to be a problem or allow myself to worry about it. I'm just going to focus on getting better through my diet. Thanks so much again. You guys are angels!