How Do You Know if Its Nash Disease

How practice doctors diagnose NAFLD?

Doctors employ your medical history, a physical examination, and tests to diagnose nonalcoholic fat liver disease (NAFLD)—including nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Medical history

Your doctor volition ask if you have a history of wellness conditions that make you lot more probable to develop NAFLD, such as

• overweight or obesity
• insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes
• high levels of triglycerides or abnormal levels of cholesterol in your claret
• metabolic syndrome

Your doc will ask about diet and lifestyle factors that may make y'all more than probable to develop NAFLD, such every bit a lack of physical activity, eating a diet high in sugar, or drinking sugary beverages.

Your doctor will likewise ask about other causes of liver disease or fat in your liver. Your medico will ask well-nigh your alcohol intake to find out whether fat in your liver is a sign of alcohol-associated liver disease or NAFLD.

Your dr. volition ask if you have a history of health atmospheric condition that make y'all more likely to develop NAFLD.

Physical exam

During a physical test, a doctor usually examines your body and checks your weight and meridian to calculate your trunk mass alphabetize. Your md will expect for signs of NAFL or NASH, such as

• an enlarged liver
• signs of insulin resistance, such as darkened pare patches over your knuckles, elbows, and knees
• signs of cirrhosis, such as an enlarged spleen, ascites, and muscle loss

What tests do doctors use to diagnose NAFLD?

Doctors use blood tests, imaging tests, and sometimes liver biopsy to diagnose NAFLD and to tell the departure betwixt NAFL and NASH.

Claret tests

A health care professional may take a claret sample from you and transport the sample to a lab. Your doctor may suspect you have NAFLD if your blood test shows increased levels of the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST).

Your doctor may use the results of routine blood tests to calculate special scores, such equally the FIB-iv or APRI. These scores can help doctors place or rule out advanced liver fibrosis, or scarring.

Your doctor may perform boosted claret tests to discover out if you have other health conditions that may increase your liver enzyme levels.

Imaging tests

Routine imaging tests can bear witness fatty in your liver. These tests can't evidence inflammation or fibrosis, so your doctor tin can't use these tests to detect out whether you accept NAFL or NASH. If you have cirrhosis, routine imaging tests may show nodules, or lumps, in your liver.

Your dr. may use the following imaging tests to help diagnose NAFLD

• ultrasound, which uses a device called a transducer that bounces safe, painless audio waves off your organs to create an paradigm of their structure
• computed tomography (CT) scan, which uses a combination of x-rays and computer technology to create images of your liver
• magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses radio waves and magnets to produce detailed images of organs and soft tissues without using x-rays

Elastography is a newer type of imaging test that tin can help determine if you lot accept advanced liver fibrosis. In some cases, doctors may social club elastography tests to measure the stiffness of your liver. Increased liver stiffness may be a sign of fibrosis. Commonly used types of elastography are

• vibration-controlled transient elastography, a special type of ultrasound
• sheer moving ridge elastography, another type of ultrasound to discover increased liver stiffness
• magnetic resonance elastography, a special type of MRI to measure liver stiffness

Liver biopsy

Liver biopsy is the but test that can evidence a diagnosis of NASH and show clearly how severe the disease is. Liver biopsy can show fibrosis at earlier stages than elastography tin. Even so, doctors don't recommend liver biopsy for anybody with suspected NAFLD. Your medico may recommend a liver biopsy if you are more likely to have NASH with advanced fibrosis or if your other tests show signs of advanced liver disease or cirrhosis. In some cases, doctors may recommend a liver biopsy to rule out other liver diseases.

During a liver biopsy, a doctor volition take small pieces of tissue from your liver. A pathologist will examine the tissue under a microscope to wait for signs of damage or affliction.

View full-sized image During a liver biopsy, a dr. will take a piece of tissue from your liver. A pathologist will examine the tissue under a microscope.

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Source: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/nafld-nash/diagnosis