New here with a cirrhosis question

[Todohert]

Hello! My husband has compensated early cirrhosis. We have been eating a plant based diet for the last two months and he has lost about 45 pounds in the last year (he has been working to lose weight....it didn’t just come off on its own). His cirrhosis was from fatty liver. I’m wondering....

If you have cirrhosis caused by fatty liver and lose weight, can you stop the cirrhosis from getting worse?

Thank you!

[nash2 Partner]

There is no for sure answer, but the answer is yes it is possible. The standard answer is that nothing can be done once you have cirrhosis. I can only speak of my case but I was diagnosed in 2015 and after losing 20% of my weight I had improved to an F3. It isn't actually a cure but if you stop causing more harm and let the good liver you have left work as well as they can with a good diet the effect is better health. Doesn't work for everyone of course but being optimistic helps.

Wayne

[leanne5000 in reply to nash2]

Hi Wayne. I was wondering how long you waited before you were tested again to show that improvement?

[nash2 Partner in reply to leanne5000]

I was tested every 6 months

[leanne5000 in reply to nash2]

Thank you for the reply. The reason I asked is because my doctor said it would take at least 3 years for any improvement to show although he did agree to give me another fibroscan if I wanted. It has been a little over a year since I was diagnosed and I didnt want to be disappointed so I chose to wait. You have really been a great inspiration to me and I thank you so much for that!

[nash2 Partner in reply to leanne5000]

Hi Leanne

It is a variable process. It depends on how mature or stable the scar tissue is and how well your diet supports liver health. In my case my FibroScan went from a 21 to a 9 in 18 months. A typical liver cell has a lifetime of about 5 or 6 months so if you stop killing them you should be able to detect changes by 6 months or so the question is what do you consider change and what are you measuring.

[RosaRugosa]

There are cases where NASH cirrhosis improved substantially after bariatric surgery.

As for improving via dieting, I'd say the odds are low because few people can keep the weight off through dieting, even if they are extremely motivated to. However, once people reach their 60s, their weight tends to stabilize and often goes down on its own, so I think the odds of dieting being successful are more likely if your husband is already 60 or so.

By the way, I have been a vegetarian since I was 18 years old. I developed NASH by age 30 and cirrhosis at age 45 anyway.

[Moe120 in reply to RosaRugosa]

Hi Rosa,

You mean although you went vegetarian , you were not able to reverse NASH.