Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition in which fat builds up in your liver.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are types of NAFLD. If a person has NASH, she/he has inflammation and liver damage, along with fat in the liver.
Usually, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a silent disease with few or no symptoms.
Certain health problems—including obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes—make people more likely to develop NAFLD.
In a study from Duke Health, scientists found the blood glucose levels of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease influenced their risk of having more severe scarring in the liver, which can lead to liver failure.
There are no approved drugs to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease but controlling blood sugar over time may help decrease the risk of liver scarring and disease progression.
In the study, the team examined the documented glucose levels of 713 adult patients with fatty liver disease prior to a liver biopsy.
They found that higher average blood glucose levels in the year leading up to a liver biopsy were associated with more severe swelling of liver cells.
For every 1% increase in hemoglobin HbA1c (a measure of average glucose levels) in the year preceding the biopsy, the chances for severe fibrosis rose by 15%.
Similarly, the researchers also found that those with moderate glucose control over a period of five years, rather than good control, had more severe swelling of liver cells and a higher likelihood of having advanced liver scarring.
The team says these findings are particularly significant for patients with diabetes because a significant portion of that patient population also has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
The findings may lead clinicians to reconsider their diabetes treatment approach to prescribe diabetes medications that are known to both improve glucose control and promote weight loss.
If you care about blood sugar, please read studies about how to lower morning high blood sugar fast with no medicines, and what is the normal blood sugar for people with diabetes.
For more information about blood sugar, please see recent studies about how to prevent blood sugar spikes after meals, and results showing how the body clock affects your blood sugar.
The study was conducted by Anastasia-Stefania Alexopoulos et al and published in the journal Hepatology.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
