For the first time, researchers
have shown that a bi-directional relationship exists between fatty liver
disease and cardiovascular disease. Fatty liver disease can lead to increased
cardiovascular disease risk and vice versa.
The
findings, which appear online in the Journal of
Hepatology, are important in understanding the link between fatty
liver disease and cardiovascular disease, which continues to be one of the
major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Due
to the increased prevalence of obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has
become the most common liver disease in the U.S., affecting 20-30 percent of
the adult population. Obesity is also an independent risk factor for
cardiovascular disease -- so both diseases exist in many patients. Previous
studies have shown that there is a link between fatty liver and cardiovascular
disease however it is not fully understood if fatty liver disease precedes or
develops after cardiovascular disease.
Using
data from participants in the Framingham Heart Study, researchers saw that
individuals with fatty liver disease developed cardiovascular diseases such as
high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes within six years. In a parallel
analysis, individuals with high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high
triglycerides had a higher likelihood of developing fatty liver disease.
"In
our study, we observed a bi-directional association between fatty liver and
cardiovascular disease," explained corresponding author Michelle Long, MD,
assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM),
who also is a gastroenterologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC). "We
observed that fatty liver was an important factor in the development of high
blood pressure and diabetes and the opposite also stands true -- various
cardiovascular diseases were associated with the development of fatty liver
disease over six years," she added.
Long
believes this study highlights the need to develop both preventative and
treatment strategies for fatty liver disease in order to improve the
cardiovascular health of all people.
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