Weight loss slows liver disease
Liver enzyme ALT levels fell even with 4% to 5% weight loss

By Marilyn Bitomsky

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
Australian scientists have demonstrated that losing weight and
exercising
regularly can significantly slow progression of chronic liver disease
in
overweight people.

Dietitian Dr. Ingrid Hickman (PhD) and colleagues at the Queensland
Institute of Medical Research and the Princess Alexandra Hospital said
their study demonstrates that chronic liver disease and even hepatitis
C
can be successfully treated without medication.

"Being overweight is bad for the liver. And non-alcoholic fatty liver
is
increasingly being diagnosed in those who are overweight, diabetic or
who
have insulin resistance syndrome, a precursor to diabetes," Dr. Hickman
said.

"Overweight and obesity are also recognized risk factors for the
progression of other chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis C."

Once considered a relatively benign disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver
is
now deemed to be much more serious, since it can progress to cirrhosis
and
liver cancer. In the study, published in the latest issue of Gut, 31
overweight patients with chronic hepatitis C and chronic fatty liver
disease dieted for 15 months and exercised regularly.

Their program consisted of losing weight for three months and then
maintaining their weight for the following 12 months. The patients were
seen by a dietitian every week during the first three months and
thereafter
every month, and they completed 2.5 hours of aerobic exercise every
week
for the entire period.

Before the study began, only 10 patients exercised regularly.

Levels of liver enzymes, fats and blood glucose were measured at the
start
of the study, at three months and at the end of the study. Liver tissue
samples were also taken, and the patients were asked to score their
quality
of life.

"At the end of the program, over two-thirds of the patients (68%) had
maintained weight loss," Dr. Hickman said.

"The liver enzyme, ALT, high levels of which are associated with liver
disease, also fell. And in those who maintained their weight loss, this
was
significantly lower than when patients began the program. Insulin
levels
also fell."

Importantly, these improvements were obvious even in those who lost 4%
to
5% of their body weight. Patients reported that their quality of life
significantly improved after losing weight.

Ten patients regained their weight, mostly because they did not
complete
2.5 hours of aerobic exercise a week, and their liver ALT levels
worsened.

Source URL:
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp?content=20040329_190410_2700




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