Scientists from the University of Verona found the buildup of fat in the liver, known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD for short, is linked to a heightened risk of heart failure over the next decade.
The research is published in the journal Gut and was conducted by Alessandro Mantovani et al.
NAFLD has become one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease worldwide, affecting up to around 30% of adults.
Its global prevalence is expected to rise sharply over the next decade as a result of increasing levels of overweight and obesity.
Recently published studies have implicated NAFLD in the development of heart failure—when the heart is unable to pump sufficient quantities of blood around the body.
But the size of this risk and whether this differs according to liver disease severity aren’t clear.
In the study, the team analyzed the results of 11 long-term studies published up to March 2022. The studies looked at the potential links between NAFLD and heart failure among more than 11 million middle-aged people
Around 1 in 4 (2.9 million; 26%) of the study participants already had NAFLD. Heart failure was diagnosed in 97,716 during an average monitoring period of 10 years.
The team showed that the presence of NAFLD was linked to a 50% heightened risk of developing heart failure during the monitoring period.
This was irrespective of age, sex, body fat, diabetes, high blood pressure, ethnicity and other common cardiovascular risk factors.
The risk also seemed to increase in parallel with the severity of NAFLD, especially with more extensive liver fibrosis (scarring), when the risk was 76% higher, although this finding was based on the findings of only two studies.
It’s not clear exactly how NAFLD might increase the risk of cardiac complications involved in the development of heart failure.
But NAFLD worsens systemic insulin resistance, promotes plaque formation, and releases a cocktail of inflammatory and blood-thickening chemicals, they explain.
Newer diabetes drugs, which lower blood glucose, seem to have some favorable effects on the risks of hospital admission for heart failure.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about new drug that may prevent liver damage, obesity, and green tea combined with exercise could help treat fatty liver disease.
For more information about liver disease, please see recent studies about why it is hard for people with fatty liver disease to lose weight, and results showing this stuff in vegetables may help fight fatty liver disease.
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