Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the buildup of extra fat in liver cells that is not caused by alcohol. The more severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is called “nonalcoholic steatohepatitis” or NASH. NASH causes the liver to swell and become damaged. Hear one local man’s story of living with NASH, and how he reversed his liver damage and avoided a transplant.
When 71-year old Tim Taunton was first introduced to gastroenterologist Dr. Muhammad Sheikh, he was in very poor health.
“He presented to be initially with Hepatitis C, but in the setting of obesity and metabolic syndrome. So, I knew that he has Hepatitis C, which is treatable by that time with a medication, and, but his driving force underlying was fatty liver,” explained Dr. Sheikh.
Dr. Sheikh is a specialist at Advanced Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Fresno. He said Tim came in complaining of pain.
He continued, “He had a lot of pressure buildup below the liver, causing ascites of fluid, build up, mental confusion, a lot of fatigue.”
Tim had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and NASH. Tim’s liver disease was so severe, his liver was starting to fail. Dr. Sheikh said Tim needed a liver transplant to live.
The doctor stated, “But he was like morbidly obese at that time, so the first step for us was to decrease the pressure build up due to cirrhosis… and we have to decompress that pressure by giving a shunt which we call TIPS.”
Dr. Sheikh said Tim’s liver function improved after undergoing surgery, and so did much of his overall health.
Tim commented, “Make me feel great you know, because I didn’t want a transplant anyway, cause that’s a heavy duty thing, I mean, I get poked enough as it is.”
Tim’s prognosis is positive, and now he just follows up with Dr. Sheikh to monitor his liver function.
“He’s the only doctor I[‘d] do this for. He worked hard for me, he’s the one that kept me alive to begin with,” ended Tim.
