Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin" because your body requires sunlight to synthesize the nutrient. According to the September 2010 issue of "Digestive Diseases and Sciences," vitamin D deficiency is universal among patients with chronic...
Polycystic ovary syndrome, commonly called PCOS, is an imbalance of female hormones that results in menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, difficulty getting pregnant and changes in the body, such as acne, a deepening of the voice and...
Fatty liver disease is a growing problem in the United States, but there's no single effective treatment approach. There's also no cure for it. As a first line of defense, your doctor may advise that you attempt to lose weight through lifestyle...
Corn syrup, often called high fructose corn syrup, is routinely used as a sweetener. Corn syrup is an inexpensive sugar substitute -- the corn industry calls it corn sugar -- that is used in many food and beverages from soft drinks to breads....
Your liver helps produce urea, stores vitamins and minerals and aids in maintaining a steady level of glucose in the blood. When it becomes diseased, numerous health problems can arise. Fatty liver disease is one cause of hepatomegaly, but there...
In diabetic patients who are resistant to the effects of insulin, the levels of glucose in the blood are elevated. Over time, according to Medline Plus, a service associated with the National Institutes of Health, elevated glucose in the blood may...
Elevated liver enzymes in the blood are often the first, and sometimes only, sign of liver problems. Liver enzymes increase when damage to the liver causes the liver cells to release enzymes into the bloodstream. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,...
Fatty liver, or steatosis, can be caused by a variety of conditions, such as alcohol abuse, pregnancy, infectious hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In all of these conditions, the liver accumulates too much fat, which it stores in...
Eat lots of bakery goods, processed foods and french fries and you become a prime candidate for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. That’s because these foods are rich in trans fats, which are associated with this type of liver disease. Trans...
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, the liver is the largest and one of the important organs inside a person's body. The liver has many tasks, including changing food into energy,...
Fat infiltration of the liver, also called steatosis, occurs when triglycerides accumulate in liver cells. Steatosis falls into three categories: alcoholic fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, and fatty liver of...
As explained in an article from the "World Journal of Gastroenterology" in January 2010, probiotics are effective for a number of conditions, including diseases caused by diarrhea. They may be effective in reducing the risk of developing...
The liver is your body's chemical factory. One of the largest organs in your body, it converts your food into fuel, stores vitamins, assists digestion, metabolizes medications and kills germs. Your liver can also fall prey to more than 100...
Fatty liver disease results from excessive accumulation of fat that forms inside the liver cells. This condition is grouped as either non-alcoholic fatty liver, NAFLD, because alcohol use is not the culprit in causing excess liver fat, or as...
Fatty liver, or hepatic steatosis, is caused by the accumulation of excess lipids within the cells of the liver. Steatosis is the liver's most common response to injury, and it can occur during pregnancy, as a result of alcohol abuse or toxin...
Metformin is a biguanide drug used to treat hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetics. Metformin decreases blood glucose levels by reducing liver production of glucose, decreasing intestinal absorption of glucose and increasing glucose uptake and...
Your diet and your liver are inextricably linked. Your liver is a crucial part of your digestive process, producing bile that aids in the breakdown of foods, and changing amino acids into glucose -- the brain's nutritional source of energy. Your...
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, affects 5 percent to 10 percent of adult women. In addition to hormonal aberrations, PCOS is associated with a variety of other physiologic abnormalities and medical problems. In a study published in the...
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, is a liver condition that is frequently associated with people who have diabetes or are overweight. Although no direct cures or specific treatments have been discovered for the disease, losing weight and...
The liver, the largest organ in the body, is located under the ribs below the lung on the right side. The liver processes and stores nutrients and many medications until absorbed into the bloodstream. Chronic diseases of the liver are diseases...
Fatty liver disease is the accumulation of fat in liver cells in people who drink little or no alcohol. It is also called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If left untreated, the fat can cause inflammation and scarring in the liver and lead to...
Most people have experienced some consequence of poor digestion. Both acid reflux and fatty liver are disorders that may be related to your diet. Although the two conditions represent distinct disease processes with different symptoms and an array...
A fatty liver is an excess of fat in the liver cells, according to the American Liver Foundation. A fatty liver can lead to inflammation called steatohepatitis. The inflammation then leads to scarring and hardening the liver and is called...
Liver function tests are designed to check for liver infections, monitor side effects of some medications and to monitor the progression and severity of diseases affecting the liver. Enzymes in the liver include alanine transaminase, aspartate...
If you receive a diagnosis of a fatty liver, it does not necessarily mean you eat a lot of fatty food, though a poor diet can be a contributor to the condition. Generally, if the liver allows fat to build up, it indicates that somewhere in the...
Diabetes is a disease caused by insufficient insulin. Although more prevalent in type 2 diabetics insulin resistance is fairly common in type 1 diabetics. Insulin resistance refers to a decrease in the sensitivity of cells to circulating levels of...
The news regarding beer drinking and liver health is mixed. While the world is well acquainted with the widely publicized health benefits of moderate wine consumption, there may also be some health benefits from moderate beer drinking. On the...
Fatty liver, or steatosis, is a condition caused by the excessive accumulation of lipid molecules within the cells of the liver. Steatosis is the liver's natural response to injury, and it can develop in a variety of situations. Pregnancy and...
Fatty liver refers to fat buildup in liver cells. While scientists aren't sure why this happens, fatty liver is often found in people who drink too much alcohol. It's also found in people who are obese, have diabetes or high triglycerides. Then...