The alarming rates of pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are summarized in a recent Lancet Blog (Thanks to John Pohl for this link). Seven million children in U.S. have fatty liver disease.
Link: An alarming trend in fatty livers (in children)
An excerpt:
The rate of NAFLD among US children has tripled over the last twenty to thirty years, rising from 3-4 percent to 10-11 percent, according to Dr. Naim Alkhouri, Director of the Metabolic Liver Center at the Texas Liver Institute in San Antonio…
Lifestyle changes, such as better nutrition and increased exercise, are currently the best-known way of mitigating and possibly reversing its effects…
Some 35-50 percent of obese children have NAFLD, and 20 percent of children with NAFLD have the advanced form of NASH. Also, 10-15 percent of children with NAFLD are in a predicament that could be described as “pre-cirrhosis.”
“Though most cases of juvenile NAFLD are caused by excess weight and associated insulin resistance, “up to 7% of non-overweight or obese children may have NAFLD,” according to a new study that Alkhouri and others will present at the upcoming International Liver Congress, held in Amsterdam this April.
Related blog posts:
- When Will MRI Obviate the Need for a Liver Biopsy in Pediatric NAFLD?
- Concise Review: Fatty Liver in Pediatrics
- NAFLD Guidelines 2012 | gutsandgrowth
- Pediatric NAFLD histology score | gutsandgrowth
- Could Cysteamine help NAFLD? | gutsandgrowth
- Pediatric Fatty Liver Disease -in the news
- The Liver –Front and Center | gutsandgrowth
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