Your liver's a ticking time bomb if you don't treat it well!
You might
be feeling smug and healthy from saying no to alcohol over the festive season,
and while this is indeed something to be proud of, it won’t keep you completely
safe from liver disease.
It has been
a long-known fact that diseases in the liver are attributed to alcohol, and
also hepatitis. So abstaining from alcohol is certainly one way to keep your
liver healthy. However, there is a disease called Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD). As the name suggests, it is not caused by excessive alcohol
intake, and there is no known exact cause. But people with high cholesterol,
hypertension, obesity, diabetes, the works, tend to also be diagnosed with this
disease.
Unsurprisingly, NAFLD is becoming a worrying trend in
developed countries, including Singapore.
The risk also increases with age and obesity level. It is found that Indians tend
to be at higher risk of the disease, according to a study by SingHealthdoctors. Some noticeable signs of the disease may include fatigue, pain in the
upper right abdomen, abdominal swelling, enlarged blood vessels just beneath
the skin’s surface which can result in red palms, enlarged breasts in men, and
jaundiced characterised by yellowing of the skin and eyes, according to Mayo Clinic.
Like all dreaded diseases, there are usually no apparent
symptoms for NAFLD in the early stage. By the time symptoms are noticed, the
disease would have reached an advanced stage when treatment would be more
complicated.
It is thus recommended that those who exhibit risk factors
of NAFLD go for regular health screenings to facilitate early detection. Lead a
healthy lifestyle with sufficient sleep and physical activity, a balanced diet
and abstinence from smoking. And continue having your alcohol in moderation or
have none at all!
0 comments: