Fatty Liver Matters

Please tell me you already knew this.

People with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition that often accompanies obesity and type 2 diabetes, have higher mortality rates than the general population, a new Swedish study found.

Patients with NAFLD were 69% percent more likely to die than the general Swedish population (standardized mortality ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.25), according to a report in the February issue of Hepatology.

Patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a condition where fat buildup causes liver inflammation, were at 86% higher risk (95% CI 1.19 to 2.76; P=0.007).

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Vitamin E Beneficial to patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

A new study (PIVENS?trial) indicated that patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver might benefits?from natural form of vitamin E (800 IU/day), but not from pioglitazone?(Actos).??

Nonalcoholic fatty liver or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) currently affects about 4% of the American population and there is no approved therapy.? About 15% of patients with NASH progress to cirrhosis and patients with NASH experience fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, and obesity.

The new study is a multicenter?trial involving 247 nondiabetic adults with biopsy-proven NASH. Patients were allocated to the following 3 arms:?

80 patients to the insulin-sensitizer?pioglitazone?(Actos) (30 mg once daily)84 patients to vitamin E (800 IU/day)83 patients to placebo?

After 96 weeks, patients in the vitamin E therapy arm was associated with a significantly higher rate of improvement in NASH when compared with placebo (43% vs 19%; P = .001; number needed to treat, 4.2).

However, the difference in the rate of NASH improvement with pioglitazone?compared with placebo did not reach the prespecified 0.025 level of significance (34% vs. 19%; P?= .04; number needed to treat, 6.9).? Even though the pioglitazone?arm did not reach the statistical endpoint, pioglitazone still improve the histology in half of the NASH patients.?

Despite the positive results, the investigator, Dr. Harrison, still emphasized the importance of treating the causes (obesity, prediabetes and frank diabetes).?

In addition to prescribing vitamin E 800 IU/day, Dr. Harrison still aims to reduce patient’s weight (ideally 10% reduction) with diet and exercise up front.? Only in patients who are not able to lose the weight and with advanced disease will he then consider prescribing pioglitazone.

Published online in the April 28, 2010 issue of ?N Engl J Med.

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Filed under: Fatty Liver | Tagged: vitamin E, Fatty Liver, pioglitazone, Actos, NASH

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The Strong Silent Type

June 16, 2010 by gethealthywithme

Well silent I am not , but who knows what my liver might be thinking. The liver is the workhorse in our bodies, it filters out all the toxins we put in via drugs, alcohol, chemicals in processed foods and even the air we breathe…it all stops at the liver first.

If our liver is working well it will get rid of those toxins and the rest of your organs will be handed less work to do and everything inside us is happy!!

However when the liver starts to fail, it will not scream and yell at you, it will keep working to the best of its abilities , it won’t clean out as many toxins , but heck your other organs can handle them! They have had it easy for so many years…thanks to your liver.

Other charities get lots of funding from drug companies, not the liver foundation…the reason for that is pretty clear from my perspective. Drugs don’t help the liver in general. The liver needs to be treated with tender loving care by its owner, its really the only way to lessen the work and allow it to heal itself.? So why would drug companies throw money behind a charity that it can’t count on making money from!

The other huge problem for the Liver Foundation is the general public’s view of liver disease. We associate liver issues with someone who is an alcoholic, drug addict, tattoo parloured partier who is always having unprotected sex!

As long as we are NOT that person….we should be fine right! WRONG so completely wrong, but until your liver is badly damaged it will not complain…picture it as Donkey in winnie the pooh….just trudging along through life hoping someone will notice him!

I am involved in 2 different charity events for the liver foundation in the Toronto area this weekend and I hope you will stop by and show your support!

Friday I will be at Union Station for the morning rush hour and the afternoon rush collecting money for The Canadian Liver Foundation and again on Father’s day at Boston Pizza in Brampton at 410 and Steeles. Bring your dad for lunch and help a great cause with me!

for my daughters sake and for someone you love who doesn’t yet know they have liver disease!

Hugs

Michelle Clermont

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It's Liver-Lover, Boy!

In November 2009, I was diagnosed with hypertension stage 2; fatty liver and gallbladder polyp vs. cholesterolosis. I was sent home twice by our company doctor due to a blood pressure of around 180/120. I had abdominal ultrasound, lipid profile and other blood tests. My cardiologist also ordered an ECG just to rule out any heart ailment.

The results are shocking. My SGPT, SGOT and cholesterol levels are on high levels (but not high enough to suspect hep, I suppose). My gastro reassured me that despite the numbers, there’s nothing to worry about. He gave me Combizar, Norvasc and Lipanthyl and asked me to stay on medication until he tells me to stop, if ever he does.

Then in January 2010, I repeated the ultrasound and the blood chem. The SGPT and SGOT levels dropped a bit. Then about yesterday, I decided to repeat the tests. The levels dropped but my SGPT is still about twice the maximum level.

Our doctor said it’s okay as long as the numbers do not show an increase of 3 or 4 times. My blood pressure seems to be under control already.

About 4 hours from now, I am about to have another ultrasound test and I am really praying hard for the results to be favorable. I hope that there is nothing irreversibly wrong with my health.

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Why Alternative Medicine is Finally Becoming a More Used and Accepted Practice in the US

When most Americans think of medicine they think of visiting the family doctor when they are sick and then sometimes being prescribed a medicine for whatever is making them sick . This is changing and the medicinal benefits from Eastern therapies are now being used more widely in this country. holistic nutrition and therapies , acupuncture, massage therapy, vegetarian and vegan diets and taking Garden of Life Perfect supplements are all things that people are trying to live a healthier life.

Because traditional doctors have been giving antibiotics for so long to their patients when they get ill , they have become essentially ineffective to many people and are proving to not help at all due to the immunity to the medicine that many have built up . Due to this and the emerging presence of alternative practices popping up all over in addition to being supported by some traditional doctors, people are considering it to help them to feel better.

Eastern influenced therapies have been around for thousands of years, much longer than Western medicine but due to the fact that it is different to many westerners they are scared to try it. Acupuncture has been a long time effective method in eliminating severe allergies in patients and now a lot of people that used to have to have weekly allergy shots and take a lot of medicine that left them groggy are now free and clear of lifetime allergies after many acupuncture sessions. The needles are very tiny and can not be felt when administered and often acupressure is used in younger patients instead of the needles to reach the pressure points.

Massage therapy is a additional alternative therapy to acupressure and one that is becoming more accepted as a wonderful healing option . Many people are now becoming aware that massage is not just a pampering spa treatment but one that can relieve a variety of ailments like headaches, fatigue, back pain, and sleep disorders. A regular Swedish massage also helps patients suffering from illnesses like multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and other neurological ailments .

Holistic treatments and vitamins have also gained acceptance throughout America and are not only being favored by naturalists but also by Western doctors too . They have witnessed with the resistance that a lot of their patients are experiencing to antibiotics that many times the holistic alternatives are the treatment and the cure that they need. The Western States are farther along in their acceptance and use of all of these alternatives than the East, South and Midwest but it is slowly making its way across the United States and hopefully it will continue to be practiced and accepted as people realize it is a valid treatment and not some kind of hocus pocus .

Changes in what you eat are also becoming another part of holistic wellness. Many naturalists now know that a diet full of fruits and vegetables is a much healthier way to live and one that eliminates processed foods will help you avoid getting sick as often .

Tags: acupuncture, alternative medicine, alternative practices, Eastern influenced therapies, holistic, live a healthier life, massage therapy

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Vitamin E and Fatty Liver

Treating Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver: Pioglitazone or Vitamin E?

Vitamin E is superior to placebo in treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study. Pioglitazone, although showing some efficacy, did not achieve statistically significant results.

Researchers, pursuing earlier findings that thiazolidinediones and antioxidants can lead to improvements in fatty liver, randomized some 250 nondiabetic patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis to 2 years’ treatment with either pioglitazone, vitamin E, or placebo. Improved histologic findings were the study’s primary outcome.

Liver biopsies showed that vitamin E recipients had a higher rate of improvement than those on placebo (43% vs. 19%). The improvement among pioglitazone recipients versus placebo did not reach statistical significance (34% vs. 19%). Both treatments reduced alanine and aspartate aminotransferase levels significantly from baseline values.

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