Fatty liver: a short guide
Short patient information to print or keep.
What was found?
Fat in the liver does not by itself mean inflammation or cirrhosis. Steatosis means fat, steatohepatitis means inflammation with liver cell injury, and fibrosis means scarring. Many people never develop advanced scarring.
What do I check?
I review your metabolic health, alcohol, medicines and blood results. FIB-4 is a blood-test-based score, using age, liver enzymes and platelet count, while FibroScan is a non-invasive liver stiffness measurement. Both can be used to assess the likelihood of liver fibrosis, and both need clinical interpretation. Normal liver blood tests do not completely exclude significant fibrosis.
What can help?
Sustainable food and activity changes, appropriate gradual weight reduction and treatment of diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol can help. Emerging evidence for GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide (Wegovy) in selected people with MASH and significant fibrosis is promising, and more data are expected. Whether it is appropriate depends on your diagnosis, other health conditions and local access. I will advise about alcohol and any medicines. If alcohol dependence is possible, get help to reduce safely. Check supplements before taking them.
Follow-up and safety
Follow-up depends on your results. Contact me or your GP for jaundice or new swelling. Seek urgent help for vomiting blood, black tarry stools or new confusion. Call 111 for collapse, bleeding with faintness or if you cannot travel safely.
When to seek medical advice
Contact me or your GP promptly for yellow eyes or skin, new abdominal swelling, leg swelling or unexplained weight loss. These symptoms need assessment and should not be assumed to be ordinary fatty liver.
Seek urgent help for vomiting blood, black tarry stools, new confusion or severe illness.
Call 111 if you collapse, have bleeding with faintness or are too unwell to travel safely.
General information. Follow your own care instructions.