To Those Told They Have “Moderate or Severe Fatty Liver” at Their Health Checkup: What You Should Start Right Now to Prevent Cirrhosis

When looking at your health checkup results, some of you may be deeply shocked to be told that you have “moderate fatty liver” or “severe fatty liver.”

“Mild is one thing, but moderate or severe…? Is it already too late?”

“What will happen to me if I just leave it like this…?”

To those carrying such anxious feelings, what we want to tell you first is that there is a high possibility it is not too late yet. However, for that to be true, taking “immediate” and “correct” action is indispensable.

This time, we will explain what state your liver is currently in, and share “what you should start right now” as proposed by a specialist to prevent progression to cirrhosis and to protect your future health.

What State Is Your Liver In Now? Signs of “Moderate or Severe Fatty Liver”

Being diagnosed with “moderate or severe fatty liver” on a health checkup ultrasound examination means that an amount of fat significantly exceeding normal levels has accumulated inside your liver.

When the entire liver appears whitish or bright on an image like this, it suggests a state tightly packed with fat. While mild fatty liver involves partial or smaller amounts of fat accumulation, moderate to severe fatty liver indicates that a non-ignorable amount of fat has accumulated across a wide area of the liver.

At this stage, the most important goal is “to prevent or halt the progression of liver fibrosis (hardening of the liver).” If left untreated, fatty liver progresses to “non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH),” which involves inflammation in the liver. If it progresses further, there is a risk that it leads to “liver cirrhosis,” where the liver hardens, and eventually to “liver cancer.” Moderate or severe fatty liver should be understood as a sign that you are standing at the entrance to this dangerous path.

What You Should Start Right Now to Prevent Cirrhosis

If diagnosed with moderate or severe fatty liver, it is crucial to start the following actions as soon as possible:

1. A More Rigorous Review of Lifestyle Habits

You may feel that you are “already reviewing lifestyle habits.” However, in cases of moderate or severe fatty liver, a more rigorous and continuous approach is required.

• Dietary Therapy: Based on expert advice, thoroughly optimize your calorie intake, review excessive consumption of carbohydrates and fats, and ensure a well-balanced diet (actively incorporating vegetables and dietary fiber). In particular, late-night meals and snacking place a heavy burden on the liver, so thoughtful adjustments are necessary.
• Exercise Therapy: Establish a sustainable exercise routine centered on aerobic exercise. Find activities you can continue without overexertion—such as walking, jogging, or swimming—and ideally incorporate more effective exercises under expert guidance.
• Reviewing Drinking Habits: Even if it is not alcoholic fatty liver, to reduce the burden on the liver, significantly decrease alcohol intake, or consider abstaining from drinking by increasing alcohol-free days where possible.

2. Regular Follow-up and Detailed Examinations by a Specialist

Through self-guided efforts alone, it is impossible to accurately grasp the degree of fatty liver progression, transition to NASH, or the presence of fibrosis. If told you have moderate or severe fatty liver, receiving regular follow-ups and detailed examinations by a gastroenterologist or hepatologist is indispensable.

The following examinations in particular are extremely important for understanding the condition of your liver:

• Measurement of Liver Stiffness (such as Shear Wave Elastography): By measuring liver stiffness, the degree of fibrosis progression can be objectively evaluated with numerical values. This serves as a vital indicator for judging the risk of progression to cirrhosis. At our clinic, we perform liver stiffness measurements frequently to carefully monitor whether the condition is progressing toward cirrhosis.
• Blood Tests: In addition to liver function markers such as AST, ALT, and γ-GTP, we track fluctuations in markers indicating inflammation and fibrosis in detail.

Specialists will comprehensively evaluate these test results alongside your lifestyle habits and physical constitution to propose the optimal treatment plan for you.

What If Progression Cannot Be Stopped, or Fibrosis Has Already Advanced?: The Future Option of “Regenerative Medicine”

“Even though I improved my lifestyle habits and followed expert guidance, my liver function numbers just won’t improve…”

“I was diagnosed that liver fibrosis has already advanced…”

Even in such situations, it is still too early to give up.

While liver fibrosis was once considered irreversible, thanks to advancements in medical care, regenerative medicine has garnered attention as a new option in recent years. Regenerative medicine using stem cells acts directly on liver fibrosis itself, promoting the repair and regeneration of damaged liver cells and suppressing inflammation, thereby expecting to inhibit or even improve fibrosis progression in some cases.

This holds the potential to become a future option that draws out your liver’s inherent power to halt progression to cirrhosis or reverse changes that have already begun.

The diagnosis of “moderate or severe fatty liver” given at your health checkup is by no means a sign of despair. It is an SOS and a final warning from your liver, saying, “If you change your actions right now, you can change your future.”

Why not consult a specialist first about the condition of your liver and your anxieties about the future?

At our clinic, we also accept online preliminary consultations using “Curon.” To prevent your liver from turning into cirrhosis and for a healthy future, let’s find “what you should start right now” together.