The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to life-threatening conditions such as cirrhosis and organ cancers, has risen sharply over the past 30 years, a new study finds.
Hispanic Americans, especially Mexican Americans, are disproportionately affected by the disease, causing abnormal levels of fat accumulation in the liver. Although fewer white Americans now have the disease, its rate is increasing rapidly, to 133% in this group over 30 years, and is found among Mexican Americans. That’s more than double the rate of increase, researchers reported at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting on Friday.
Overall, more than a third of the tens of thousands of adult participants in the study recently developed what is called the condition. Metabolic-related fatty liver disease.
“More and more people have excess fat stored in their livers,” says co-author Theodore Friedman, Ph.D., an endocrinologist at the Charles R. Drew College of Medicine and UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.
Certain genetic and metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, prediabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol are known to increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the leading cause of liver transplantation.
Experts say its apple-like shape, rather than pear-like shape, is also linked to disease.
Friedman advises people to avoid junk and overly processed foods and cut down on carbs. “This disease is caused by not eating enough and not exercising,” he said. “I always tell my patients to eat more vegetables.”
Can fatty liver be treated?
To examine the incidence of NAFLD, Friedman and his team National Health and Nutrition Survey. Analysis of data from 32,726 adults who participated in the study revealed that overall NAFLD increased by 131%, from 16% in 1988 to 37% in 2018.
- NAFLD prevalence among Mexican-Americans was 36% in 1988 and increased by 61% to 58% in 2018.
- The proportion of African Americans rose from 11% in 1988 to 25% in 2018, an increase of 127%.
- Among white Americans, the rate rose from 15% in 1988 to 35% in 2018, a whopping 133% increase.
Most people with fatty liver disease are unaware that they have it, but it is called the “silent disease” because it has few or no symptoms. People with symptoms may feel tired and uncomfortable. upper right side of abdomen.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common cause of liver disease in the United States, according to. National Institutes of Health.
“Doctors should look for diabetes in people with those conditions because it’s a common condition in people with diabetes and obesity,” Friedman said.
Although there are no approved drugs to treat fatty liver disease, it is possible to reverse it.
“People who exercise and lose a lot of weight can get back to normal,” says Friedman.
If NAFLD continues unabated, it could lead to: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)which leads to cell damage and inflammation in the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis.
Can Weight Loss Medications Improve Fatty Liver Disease?
Dr. Friedman hopes his study will alert people with risk factors that they may have unknowingly developed fatty liver disease. He noted that a new class of weight-loss drugs (Ozempic, Wigoby, and other GLP-1 agonists that also help control blood sugar in diabetics) could help reverse fatty liver disease caused by metabolic factors. bottom.
“But I think a lifestyle change is a better choice,” he says.
Meena Bansal, Ph.D., a gastroenterologist and director of the NASH Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, said the study highlights an increasing prevalence among Hispanics. said that
“Hispanic patients have a higher prevalence of genetic mutations that increase the risk of this disease,” said Bansal, who was not involved in the new study. “We need to educate those people more about the risks.”
It’s important to understand that having a genetic predisposition doesn’t mean you’ll get fatty liver disease, Bansal said. The best way to avoid it, she added, is to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly.
Bansal said dietary trends that began in the late 1980s may help explain the rise in fatty liver disease in all populations. That’s when “they started adding high fructose corn syrup to sodas,” she said, adding that the sweetener stimulates the liver to produce more fat.
Fatty liver disease “is only important if it causes liver inflammation and scarring,” says Bansal. And one way to know if you’re at risk is to have your doctor calculate your FIB-4 score, she added.
Why you can’t prevent fatty liver disease even if you’re thin
Weight loss can make a big difference, said Dr. Suzanne Sharpton, an assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Even the most severe NASH “recovers with significant weight loss for most stages,” she added.
Still, being thin may not completely prevent NAFLD. Only a minority of people with fatty liver disease are thin, At least one study suggests Lean people with NAFLD are at a higher risk of dying from the disease.
Dr. Lisa Ganju, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at New York University Langone Health, said NAFLD in lean people may be linked to other metabolic problems.
“You don’t have to be obese,” Ganju said, adding that even thin people can have high blood cholesterol levels, for example.
The new research is “a big call for action,” said Dr. Sammy Saab, professor of medicine and surgery at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “The problem is that there are currently no good treatments. We need pharmacological interventions, drugs that reverse the liver damage we are seeing.”
It’s not just the United States, Saab said.
“All over the world this is a big problem,” he added. “It’s the most common reason for liver transplantation among women.”
