VIDEO: Hispanic patients at higher risk for developing fatty liver disease

WASHINGTON — In this exclusive video from Emerging Trends in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Arun Sanyal, MD, FAASLD, of the Virginia Commonwealth University, discusses racial differences related to the risk for developing fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.

“There are substantial differences in the likelihood of having fatty liver disease across various ethnicities,” Sanyal said. “People of Hispanic origin, or particularly those who are not of European origin, have a high prevalence of fatty liver disease. Not only do they have more fatty liver disease, but it can progress faster to cirrhosis, and this is closely linked to the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in this population.”

Sanyal advocated that clinicians look for the light presence of fatty liver disease and perform screening tests particularly in Hispanic patients who have multiple features of metabolic syndrome and have risk factors for fatty liver disease or family members who have died of liver disease without an obvious cause.

“This will allow us to target and identify those who are at risk of developing cirrhosis and liver-related outcomes, and hopefully prevent those in the future when drugs are approved for therapeutics,” Sanyal said.

Disclosure: Sanyal reports he is an advisor for Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exhalens, Genfit, Gilead, Ikaria, Novartis, Pfizer, Tiziana, Conantus, OWL, Echosens and Immuron; and is a consultant for Echosens, Enanta, Exhalens, Genentech, Hemoshear, Immuron, Islet Sciences, JD Pharma, Merck, Nimbus, Salix, Takeda, Zafgen, Amarin, Vivelyx, Malinckrodt, Ardelyx, Indalo and Zydus.