Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is on the rise among children in the United States, with more than 7 million kids thought to have the condition. Recently, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic have developed an online calculator to help clinicians better track down NAFLD in their patients, WNDU.com reports.
The disease occurs when the liver becomes inflated and bloated by fat cells. NAFLD is mainly associated with obesity and can lead to serious health issues, like the need for a liver transplant, if left unchecked. Today, doctors estimate 17 percent of U.S. children are obese and about 50 percent of them will eventually develop NAFLD.
Until now, an invasive liver biopsy was the only way to find out how severe NAFLD was in a patient. The Cleveland Clinic’s new tool analyzes metrics like height, weight, gender, red blood cell counts, blood liver enzymes and platelet counts via a mathematical equation to help determine what type of liver disease is affecting a patient.
Doctors claim the tool can help avoid a liver biopsy in about 60 percent of kids. The calculator can also help pre-diagnose liver conditions and is also good at distinguishing alcoholic from nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases.
The clinic estimates that NAFLD affects almost 10 percent of children in the United States. Most kids diagnosed are in their adolescent years, with males affected twice as often as females. Latinos are also more likely to develop NAFLD than whites or blacks.
Symptoms include right-sided abdominal pain, fatigue, constipation, insulin resistance, an enlarged liver, and dark discolorations on the back of the neck or armpits.
You can find the new calculator here.
Clinic Develops Fatty Liver Disease Calculator for Obese Kids
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