Millions of people in India suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Discovered only 25 years ago the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, essentially, is a disorder of fat metabolism in which fat can accumulate in the liver in excessive amounts. Millions of people in India are affected by the fatty liver even though they may not be consuming alcohol.

This was stated by renowned physician Dr Deepak Chaturvedi while talking to media persons here on Saturday. He said around 25 per cent people in India are in different stages of this disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease tends to develop in people who are overweight or obese or have diabetes, high cholesterol or high triglycerides. Rapid weight loss and poor eating habits also may lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, some people develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease even if they do not have any risk factors. NAFLD may also lead to other diseases like coronary artery disease, diabetic mellitus, metabolic syndrome and hypertension.

He , further, said that current paediatric population has become more susceptible to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver disease (NAFLD), a disease that used to predominantly plague adults from the age of 40 and above with high risk of heart disease. But in recent times, after obesity rates among children have skyrocketed, so has their vulnerability to NAFLD. Kids love and enjoy junk food, it is parent’s responsibility to keep a check on their junk food intake.

Talking about its diagnosis Dr Chaturvedi said the diagnosis of NAFLD is often made during an ultrasound examination of liver. The ultrasound examination stages NAFLD as Grade one to three. The severity of disease is accessed by help of liver function tests, fibroscan of liver and liver biopsy.