What Is Fatty Liver?
Fatty liver is the accumulation of fat in liver cells. One of the important functions of the liver is to change substances in the foods you eat into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. One form of fat the liver produces is triglycerides, which are important for new cell production and to make hormones. With fatty liver, the liver cells accumulate large droplets of fat that consist of mostly triglycerides.
Fatty liver is an abnormal accumulation of fat (small or large droplets) in the cytoplasm of liver cells and may often be accompanied by fibrosis. Fatty liver is present in approximately 90-100% of heavy drinkers (who consume more than 80 grams of alcohol per day over a 5 year period). Palpable liver enlargement is also characteristic of fatty liver and is present in about 90%of these patients. Conditions other than heavy alcohol consumption may also cause fatty liver.
