Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Its Impairments from the Perspective of Traditional Iranian Medicine and Conventional Medicine

The liver is the largest organ in the body that plays a major role in metabolism and detoxification of various substances. Fatty liver is known to be the most common cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. People with fatty liver have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

This research is a review study with a library method that has been done by examining the documentary sources of traditional medicine, modern medicine, banks and various existing databases.

NAFLD refers to the presence of hepatic steatosis without the involvement of secondary causes of fat accumulation in the liver, (excessive alcohol consumption). The basis of fatty liver treatment is based on lifestyle modification, which includes proper nutrition and exercise. Patients are mostly asymptomatic. It is recommended to treat mild cases where the person is prone to developing fibrosis. From the perspective of traditional medicine, patients' symptoms range from asymptomatic to feeling tired, bored and upset on the right side of the abdomen. Although fatty liver is not specifically associated with a particular disease, the clinical symptoms and treatment are similar to several traditional diseases, including obstruction of intrahepatic ducts, liver dysfunction especially cold liver dysfunction and ascites. Liver intrahepatic ducts obstruction is caused by various factors and can occur in the convex or concave part of the liver. Ethical Considerations: In this research, honesty and trustworthiness, citation of the texts used avoidance of bias in inferring the texts or analyzes have been observed.

Some drugs used to treat fatty liver in modern medicine include metformin, thiazolidinediones. In traditional treatment of liver dyspepsia, hot tempered food is prescribed orally and sometimes topically. In relation to the hepatic duct obstruction, if the obstruction is in convex part, the diuretics are used. If the obstruction is in concave part, laxatives are prescribed. In the treatment of early stages of cirrhosis, enema and clearance with combination of aloe vera and other herbal medicines.