What are the causes of fatty liver disease?
Fat accumulates in the liver cells of people with fatty liver disease. There are a number of factors that can contribute to fat buildup.
AFLD can be caused by excessive alcohol consumption. The liver can be affected by heavy alcohol use by altering certain metabolic processes. Some of these metabolic products can combine with fatty acids, leading to the formation of types of fat that can accumulate in the liver.
In people who don’t drink a lot of alcohol, the cause of fatty liver disease is less clear. For these people, it’s possible their body produces too much fat or doesn’t metabolize fat efficiently enough.
People who don’t drink much alcohol but develop fatty liver disease may be affected by one or more of the following factors:
The blood is high in fat, particularly triglycerides
The following are other potential causes of fatty liver:
There are some side effects associated with certain types of medications
Hepatitis C is one example of an infection
Inherited genetic conditions
