Fatty liver disease: Dandruff could indicate your liver is failing increasing your risk
Liver disease: NHS Doctor talks about link with alcohol
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The liver is a reddish-brown, cone-shaped organ found in the upper right portion of your abdominal cavity. A healthy liver typically weighs around three pounds and is capable of holding approximately 13 percent of the body’s blood supply at different times. When the liver is failing, fatty liver disease may ensue which is a result of poor lifestyle choices including alcohol abuse. A sign your liver is deteriorating may include experiencing dandruff.
White, scaly plaques on your scalp otherwise referred to as dandruff could indicate liver problems.
In Chinese medicine, the most common cause of dandruff is “liver blood deficiency”, said acupuncturist Angela Hicks.
She added: “Blood, amongst other things, moistens the body, so ‘blood deficiency’ doesn’t mean you are anaemic but that your blood isn’t moistening your scalp sufficiently (the blood deficiency also causes psoriasis).”
Other health conditions which cause dandruff as a symptom include:
- Sjogren’s Syndrome
- Hypothyroidism
- Psoriasis
- EFA Need
- Liver Congestion
- Vitamin B6 deficiency
In most cases, fatty liver disease doesn’t cause any serious problems or prevent your liver from functioning normally, said the Cleveland Clinic.
The health site continued: “But for seven percent to 30 percent of people with the condition, fatty liver disease gets worse over time.”
It progresses through three stages:
Your liver becomes inflamed (swollen), which damages its tissue. This stage is called steatohepatitis.
Scar tissue forms where your liver is damaged. This process is called fibrosis.
Extensive scar tissue replaces healthy tissue. At this point, you have cirrhosis of the liver.
Causes
Fatty liver develops when your body produces too much fat or doesn’t metabolise fat efficiently enough.
The excess fat is stored in liver cells, where it accumulates and causes fatty liver disease.
This build-up of fat can be caused by a variety of things.
For example, drinking too much alcohol can cause alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is the first stage of alcohol-related liver disease.
In people who don’t drink a lot of alcohol, the cause of fatty liver disease is less clear.
Am I at risk?
Experts don’t know exactly why some people accumulate fat in the liver while others do not.
“Similarly, there is limited understanding of why some fatty livers develop inflammation that progresses to cirrhosis,” explains the Mayo Clinic.
NAFLD has been linked to a range of chronic disease markers, however.
These include:
Overweight or obesity
Insulin resistance, in which your cells don’t take up sugar in response to the hormone insulin
High blood sugar (hyperglycaemia), indicating prediabetes or type 2 diabetes
High levels of fats, particularly triglycerides, in the blood.
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