SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
PANJIM: Once considered innocuous, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as the leading cause of chronic liver disease. It is not attributable to excessive alcohol consumption, drugs, toxins, infectious diseases or other identifiable causes.
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A study Goa Medical College (GMC) has shown that individuals above 35 years of age had higher prevalence of NAFLD compared to those below 35 years. The prevalence was among men than among women.
The study titled ‘Prevalence of NAFLD among adults in urban Goa’ was done by Dr Prajakta Ankur Vagurmekar, Dr Agnelo Menino Ferreira, Dr Frederick Satiro Vaz, Dr Hemangini Kishore Shah, Dr Amit Savio Dias and Dr Manojkumar S Kulkarni from Department of Community Medicine, GMC.
The study covered 210 participants. The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 34.8%. The prevalence among men (46.2%) was significantly higher than among women (28%). As far as grading of NAFLD was concerned, 57.5% were mild, 38.4% moderate and 4.1% severe.
Individuals above 35 years of age had higher prevalence of NAFLD (39.4%) compared to those under 35 years (6.7%). Higher prevalence of NAFLD was observed in individuals belonging to higher socioeconomic classes I (44.4%) and II (48.9%).
Individuals consuming a non-vegetarian diet were twice as likely to have NAFLD compared to vegetarians (2.83%).
The prevalence of NAFLD was significantly higher among people with diabetes (52.1%) compared to those without diabetes (25%). There was a similar increased risk for NAFLD among hypertensive individuals.
Co-author of the above study and Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, GMC, Dr Amit Dias said, “We need to understand that up to 90% of liver disease is preventable through daily, consistent actions like a balanced diet, regular exercise, reduced alcohol, and regular screenings. Despite this, globally, 2 million lives are lost yearly to liver disease, with 1.5 billion people suffering from chronic liver disease.”
Acting HoD and Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Dr SunandaAmonkar said that compared to a couple of years ago, the number of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients coming for treatment is higher now.
NAFL and NASH are both types of NAFLD without high alcohol use, but they differ significantly in severity. NAFL is “simple” fat accumulation with little to no inflammation or liver damage. NASH is a progressive form characterised by inflammation, liver cell damage (ballooning), and high scarring (fibrosis) risk.
“This problem goes unnoticed and sometimes they are presented quite late for treatment. Poor lifestyle habits are a big contributory factor. A lot of awareness is needed about this problem,” she said.
She emphasised on the need to detect the disease in early stage at the pre-fibrosis stage to help arrest the progression and even reverse the condition to normal liver.
Highlighting the growing burden of NAFLD, Dr Gaurish Borkar, Associate Consultant – Surgical Gastroenterologist at Manipal Hospital, said that this disease is increasingly being diagnosed due to changing lifestyles and metabolic health issues.
“NAFLD refers to the accumulation of excess fat in the liver, exceeding 5–10 per cent of the liver’s weight in individuals who do not consume alcohol. What is worrying is that this condition is now being seen more frequently due to sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy dietary patterns, obesity and diabetes,” Dr Borkar said.
