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VIDEO: NAFLD now affects 25% of all young adults in the US
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SAN DIEGO — In this exclusive video from DDW 2016, Naim Alkhouri, MD, a hepatologist from the Cleveland Clinic, discusses the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among young adults in the U.S., which has more than doubled over the past three decades.
“Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common form of chronic liver disease in the United States and we estimate that it affects about 30% to 40% of older adults, but we were interested in studying the prevalence of NAFLD in young adults aged 18 to 35 years old,” Alkhouri said. “The prevalence increased between 1988 to 1994 vs. 2005 to 2010 from about 10% of the young adult population to now NALFD affecting 25% of all young adults. ... This is a true epidemic; I think we need to give more resources and focus on studying this age group so hopefully we can prevent disease progression.”
Reference:
Alkhouri N, et al. Abstract #946. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; May 21-24, 2016; San Diego.
Disclosures: Alkhouri reports consulting and serving on advisory committees or review panels for Gilead and Intercept, and receiving royalties from and speaking and teaching for AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb.