Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis

This is a condition in which histological appearance of the liver is similar to the histological appearance of the alcoholic liver disease. But in this condition alcohol has no role to play. Therefore the term Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) was introduced to define this particular condition. This has happened in 1980. This condition is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Bad aspect of this condition is that this can lead to the cirrhosis and ultimately into the Hepatocellular carcinoma. It is now clear that NASH is an important part of the metabolic syndrome, which also includes insulin resistance,obesity, hyperlipidaemia and hypertension.
According to the latest studies now it is well recognized that NASH is the most common cause of persistent elevation of liver enzymes (specially alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) in patients in whom no other obvious cause can be found.
Because of the development of the sophisticated technology and investigation methods this condition is diagnosed frequently. This is also partly due to high degree of awareness about this condition among physician as well.