Dr. Rohan J. Shenoy, MBBS

Mildly increased levels of SGOT and SGPT are seen many times in patients who are otherwise healthy and have no symptoms. If sonography is done, 'fatty liver' is also usually found. If the patient does not consume alcohol, or if consuming but within safe limits only, the the diagnosis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease(NAFLD) is considered. If such 'fatty liver' patient has increased levels of SGOT and/or SGPT, the diagnosis is stepped-up to Non-alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis(NASH). NASH is an inflammatory disease process - which means liver cells are being damaged(and also being repaired simultaneously). Most of the time, the damage is fully repaired. But in some cases, the damaged may not be repairable and those liver cells will be 'deleted' and replaced with scar tissue(fibrous tissue). Such condition where irrepairable liver cells have been deleted and replaced with fibrous tissue is called as 'liver fibrosis' or 'liver cirrhosis'. Liver cirrhos...

Excessive dietary intake of sodium is a common problem these days. Most people are unaware of  daily limit for salt. Most households do not have a measuring spoon or a weighing-scale that makes it even more difficult to clearly understand how much salt is 'enough'. Excessive intake of salt not only leads to diseases(like blood pressure, heart failure, etc.) but also reduces the beneficial effects of BP-control medicines that the patients may be taking. There are many cases where patient's BP was not controlled despite medicines because of excessive salt intake. Patients whose BP remains high despite taking BP medicines may be victim of excessive salt entering the body through foods. According to WHO guidelines, an adult must not consume more than 2 grams of sodium in a day. 2 grams of sodium = 5 grams of salt = 1 teaspoon of salt = daily limit for an adult. Note: 'Salt' is a compound of sodium and chlorine. 5 grams of salt contain 2 grams of Sodium and 3 grams of Ch...