Liver plays a vital role in filtering toxins,metabolising proteins and other nutrients,producing heme and supporting digestion.Stress is nothing but body s response to any threat or demand by external factors.Stress may be emotional,physical or psycological.During stress there is a release of cortisol and adrenaline which is usually called stress hormones that produces inflammation and disturbs the balance of chemicals present in body.This response is called “fight or flight”response.Stress can be short term(escaping danger or finishing target) or long term(financial stress or worrying about past).Prolonged stress causes slow damage to organs especially liver which is involved in metabolising or processing the stress hormones.

Chronic stress leads to liver conditions like Fatty liver disease and liver inflammation.Fatty liver disease is of two types Non- alcoholoc fatty liver disease(NAFLD) and Non- alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH).Fatty liver is silent liver disease because it occurs without any symptoms.Exact cause of Fatty liver disease is unknown but stress also a contrbuting factor.Other major cause of Fatty liver Disease is obesity and rarely hereditary.

Risk factors for Fatty liver Disease are Overweight,High Cholesterol,Diabetes,High Blood pressure and excessive alcohol intake.Diagnosis includes blood test,Liver function test and imaging studies like Ultrasound and MRI scan.Biopsy is the final way of diagnosing Fatty liver or stages of Fatty liver disease.

Pediatric NAFLD is rising due to unhealthy dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle.Psycosocial parameters also play a major role in developing NAFLD in children.Social and economic resources,maternal mental health,parent children relationships and the physical environment also a major contributing factor for stress in children which in turn leads to NAFLD.

To be continued

Reference:

1)Psychosocial issues in Pediatric NAFLD by Katerina karaivazoglou et al.

2)Can stress affect the liver by Dr.Aswin Krishna