Do fibrosis and NASH have the same treatments/managements?

[Sallywolf]

I was diagnosed with stage 3 fibrosis 2 years ago, doctor hasn't bothered to follow up since. But most of the info I see on here in particular as well as most other places is about NASH, which i believe is stage 2. Is it worth my time to try the NASH treatments and ways to manage, or does fibrosis require a difference approach?

[nash2 Partner]

Hi Sally, the way they talk about it is confusing. A typical progression of liver disease is that fatty liver comes first. That is when excess fat accumulates in liver cells. The fat, up to a point, is normal and doesn't harm the cells but once the liver is over 5% fat they call it NAFLD or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. As the liver gets fatter and fatter liver cells do start to die and that starts the process of wound healing and scar formation, just like when you cut yourself, and those scars are called fibrosis. Once that starts they call it NASH, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and it has stages 1 through 4. When enough scar tissue develops to cause symptoms it is stage 4 and they change the name to cirrhosis so it is really one long disease process with different names along the way.

There is no "treatment" for NASH yet other than lifestyle changes of diet and exercise. Here is a link to a diet discussion which might be useful to you.

fattyliverfoundation.org/di...

Wayne

[Sallywolf in reply to nash2]

Thanks for clearing that up. As far as dietary advice it is near impossible for me to find any that is helpful and doesnt include foods i cant eat due to reactions. For example the olive oil thing is off limits to me as i cant digest it properly. Also a lot of whay people advise are foods that reduce cholesterol, but thay can be very dangerous in my condition of low cholesterol. And aside from mangoes, pineapple, and oranges im unable to eat most fruits available to me. I cant afford mangoes and pineapple though. Then theres the fact i have no apitite ever

[nash2 Partner in reply to Sallywolf]

Gosh Sally, that is a really hard road. I'm not smart enough to help you much. Seems like you need a really good, patient, and caring nutritionist. Lots of docs have very little real nutrition education and at its heart everything is biochemistry and a problem like yours really requires in depth understanding. Any chance there is a research hospital near you that might have cutting edge people?

Wayne

[Sallywolf in reply to nash2]

Not that im aware of, but i did request info on some clinical trials in the area the other day. I guess a nutritionist makes more sense than a dietitian given my malabsorbtion problem.

Im not surprised youre "not smart enough", ive been reseraching for years and still cant get clear info most of the time. The slow but sure degeneration of my cognative faculties isnt helping me to learn all the terms necessary to understand the reserach papers i have to read

[Adora1605 in reply to nash2]

Thank you Wayne for that very understandable explanation of Nash . I also have been diagnosed with Nash and have managed to get most of the important numbers into the normal/healthy range by diet and exercise. My regime includes small portions of food but eatting frequently and exercising 5 days a week. It’s not a perfect program but it brought my A1c down from 11 to 5.6 as well as the rest of the important numbers. My point is eating a balanced meal, easy on the carbs, no sugar and lots of veggies plus 30 minuets of any kind of exercise seems to help in the battle against Nash. I hope this helps Sallywolf.