Drugs for the Treatment of Fatty Liver

Definition and Causes

The term "hepatic steatosis", extracted from medical language, describes a pathological accumulation of fat and triglycerides in the liver tissue, responsible for even serious damage to the liver. There are several forms:

Alcoholic fatty liver disease: it depends on an excessive alcoholic intake → inflammation of the gastric tissue + depression of the inhibitory centers of the CNS + cirrhosis;
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: closely related to obesity, diabetes and the intake of certain drugs (barbiturates, responsible for enhancing the synthesis of fatty acids). It also occurs in people who do not drink alcohol → steatohepatitis → cirrhosis → liver impairment
Fatty liver disease (caused essentially by hormonal variation)

Symptoms

Many subjects discover that they are causally ill with fatty liver disease: in most cases, in fact, the disease progresses asymptomatically. In others, however, hepatic steatosis can cause serious consequences: steatohepatitis (inflammation of the liver), damage to hepatocytes with scar lesions, cirrhosis; these complications can be accompanied by pain in the upper right abdominal area, asthenia and weight loss.

Natural Cures

The information on Fatty Liver - Drugs for the Treatment of Fatty Liver is not intended to replace the direct relationship between health professional and patient. Always consult your doctor and / or specialist before taking Fatty Liver - Drugs for the Treatment of Fatty Liver.

Medicines

Unfortunately, there is no drug treatment capable of completely resolving non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; according to this, the drugs and treatments undertaken have the objective of treating the causes and risk factors underlying the problem.
We have seen that obesity constitutes an important causal factor: therefore, it is a good rule to follow a balanced diet, practice physical exercise and, when necessary, possibly resort to adjuvant products for low-calorie diets.
When the cause of hepatic steatosis lies in the excessive intake of a drug, it is a good rule to interrupt the treatment, clearly always after consulting a doctor, who will eventually modify the therapy.
The best therapeutic approach for the treatment of the various forms of steatosis consists in modifying the diet, lifestyle, as well as taking small simple measures for the prevention of these pathologies (for example: limiting the consumption of alcohol). The taking of drugs still remains an unknown for the purpose of recovery.

The following are the classes of drugs most used in the therapy against hepatic steatosis, and some examples of pharmacological specialties; it is up to the doctor to choose the most suitable active ingredient and dosage for the patient, based on the severity of the disease, the state of health of the patient and his response to treatment:

Antidiabetic drugs: for the prevention of fatty liver disease in a diabetic context and to reduce the symptoms of fatty liver, if the disease was already present.

Pioglitazone (eg. Actos, Glubrava): antidiabetic drug (class: thiazolidinediones), useful for keeping blood glucose within the physiological range. As a monotherapy, take the drug at a dosage of 15-30 mg orally once a day. Dose maintenance (for patients who do not respond positively to the initiation dose): increase the dose up to 45 mg per day, oral intake. In combination therapy, it is possible to take pharmacological preparations based on Pioglitazone + Metformin (Competact): take two tablets a day, each formulated with 15 mg of Pioglitazone and 850 mg of Metformin.
Rosiglitazone (eg Avandia) is also used in therapy against diabetes, therefore it is useful - albeit indirectly - to prevent diabetes-dependent fatty liver disease. Take two 4 mg tablets per day. Avandamet is a combined drug preparation (Rosiglitazone + metformin): take 4 tablets per day (each formulated with 1 mg of rosiglitazone and 500 mg of metformin). In 2010, the marketing of Avandia and Avandamet was suspended in the European market due to serious cardiovascular side effects.

Solubilizing drugs to dissolve gallbladder stones: also stones represent a possible risk factor implicated in hepatic steatosis, therefore solubilizing drugs can prevent liver inflammation.

Ursodeoxycholic acid or ursodiol (eg Ursobil HT, Ursodes AGE acid, Litursol): it is recommended to take a quantity of the drug equal to 8-12 mg / kg orally per day, in a single dose, in the evening or in two divided doses; prolong therapy for up to two years (maintenance therapy: 250 mg per day). It should be noted that pharmacological treatment must be continued even after the complete dissolution of the gallbladder stones, given that the disease tends to recur in 25% of patients within 12 months of discontinuing the drug.

Anti-obesity drugs: also in this case, the drugs belonging to this category are recommended for those obese or obviously overweight patients suffering from fatty liver or to prevent inflammation of the liver.

ORLISTAT (eg. XENICAL, ALLI): take the drug at a dosage of 120 mg three times a day, with each main meal containing fat. The drug can be taken during the meal or one hour after the end of the meal.

Nutraceutical products with detoxifying action on the liver:

BETAINE (eg. Cystadane): natural product extracted from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). Take 6 grams of substance per day, preferably divided into two 3-gram doses. The administration of betaine in patients suffering from fatty liver disease (alcoholic or not) is recommended for its supposed detoxifying and neuro-protective activities. Hypothetically, the supplementation of betaine could reduce fat (alleged slimming properties, ideally useful in the prevention of hepatic steatosis); however, the aforementioned therapeutic properties are not yet demonstrated in man.

Guidelines for the prevention of fatty liver:

Some simple dietary-behavioral precautions are summarized below, essential for the improvement of hepatic stenosis symptoms or in any case in its prevention: