Doctor: 5-10% Weight Loss Can Reverse Fatty Liver
Dr. Thawatchai Sawatdikun warns that fatty liver disease is often symptomless until it reaches advanced stages like cirrhosis or liver cancer. He recommends people over 30-35 with abdominal obesity request liver enzyme tests, ultrasound, or FibroScan during check-ups. Losing just 5-10% of body weight can reverse the condition within weeks.
Weight-loss expert Dr. Thawatchai Sawatdikun, known as 'Doctor One' on the Healthy Hero Facebook page, shared a video explaining how to detect fatty liver disease. He noted that people who are obese and cannot see their toes when looking past their belly likely have significant abdominal fat, putting them at high risk. The danger of fatty liver is that it typically presents no symptoms; by the time symptoms like jaundice appear, the disease has often progressed to cirrhosis or liver cancer, which are irreversible. Dr. Thawatchai advises everyone to add liver enzyme tests to their annual health check-ups. Elevated enzymes strongly suggest fatty liver and inflammation. Those aged 30-35 or older with large waists should specifically request an ultrasound or FibroScan. However, he emphasized that even those already diagnosed can still reverse the condition: losing just 5-10% of body weight — for example, 4 kg for an 80 kg person — can improve fatty liver within one to two weeks. He urges anyone who recognizes they are overweight not to wait until cirrhosis develops, as that stage cannot be cured.
