Severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Doctor shares real story of how a woman missed her wedding and the symptoms she ignored

Fatty liver disease is no longer associated exclusively with alcohol. This condition is often dismissed as fatigue or tiredness as it develops quietly. But in some cases the ‘silence’ turns into something dangerous. A real-life incident was shared by Delhi-based surgeon Dr. Obaid Rahman, about a young woman whose undiagnosed severe NAFLD forced her to miss her own wedding. The time she was supposed to be enjoying was spent at the hospital bed pondering over the signs she considered was fatigue.

Dr. Rahman shares how the symptoms started with:

• Mild bloating after dinner
• Strange fatigue after workout
• Dull ache beneath her right rib

The 27-year old bride-to-be was fit and didn’t drink alcohol. She simply brushed off the symptoms. She told herself “probably hormones” and even her peers and family said it must be stress.


But inside her body, something else was happening.

Some days later, she started waking up nauseated. Her energy started draining faster than usual, and her skin started looking pale. All she could think of to solve it was “getting more rest”.

And then she decided to get her blood-tests done. It was this time when she realised that what she felt wasn’t stress or fatigue. The test showed liver enzymes were ten times higher than normal. The ultrasound confirmed it. It was non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.


After this, she spent time in the hospital bed and thought “why did this happen to me? I don’t even drink”.

Dr. Rahman remembers her saying “I looked healthy on the outside, but my body was screaming inside. The doctor noted, fatty liver isn’t a disease of alcohol. It’s a disease fueled by stress, sugar, hormones, and overwork. He notes that fatty liver is silently growing in women under 30 years of age.