Editorial

Incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

0000-0001-7395-6853Conrado Ronaliet Alvarez Borges^{1  *}  , 0000-0002-5969-6626Ivianka Linares Batista² 

¹Policlínico Centro, Sancti Spíritus, Cuba.

²Hospital Provincial General Camilo Cienfuegos de Sancti Spíritus, Cuba.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the infiltration of fat into the hepatocyte in the absence of alcohol consumption or other secondary chronic liver diseases; It includes a spectrum of liver conditions that ranges from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis and even cirrhosis, ¹ appears in close relation with the metabolic syndrome and with it the increase in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and malignant diseases. NAFLD is slow but progressive in its evolution, so much so that it reaches advanced forms of liver damage in up to 30 % of cases in a period of 20 to 30 years. ^2,3

Associated with the epidemic of obesity and diabetes mellitus, NAFLD has increased from 2.8 % to 46 %, also before 2010 it had already become 75 % of chronic liver diseases. ⁴ The incidence and worldwide prevalence of NAFLD is high globally and currently represents the most frequent chronic liver disease in western countries, with an estimated prevalence of 25 % in Europe in adults and it is estimated that approximately 25-30 % of these patients will progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, representing an estimated prevalence of approximately 15 %. ^5,6

In the general population of the countries of the western Asia it has been calculated between 20 % to 30 %; ¹ it is estimated that in the United States the prevalence in the general population varies from 3 % to 23 %; in the Latino population the frequency of this disease evaluated by liver ultrasound was 15 % in Mexico and in Brazil among obese women 33 % ⁷. In Cuba, the actual prevalence of the disease is unknown; the data from the published studies of the disease come from postmortem studies or from research carried out in the general population using non-invasive diagnostic procedures. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinical condition that includes liver damage; it proceeds through different phases until it reaches cirrhosis (the final stage of the disease).

It is the hepatic response of the organism to the injury caused, its close relationship with other associated diseases makes it a health problem with repercussions both for the individual, the family and society. The asymptomatic or nonspecific presentation, apparently slow but progressive evolution of NAFLD, many times when it is diagnosed has already advanced. It appears with development and "new bad" lifestyles, it is frequently diagnosed at an early age; it is a disease whose evolutionary history and life span of these patients compared to liver disease caused by virus C, there are no differences between the two diseases; due to its relationship with hepatocarcinoma, it is considered the third most common indication for liver transplantation, simultaneously, there are currently no medications that reverse or prevent damage to the liver gland, so it is necessary to carry out research to find solutions that counter the fatty liver epidemic.

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Received: February 17, 2020; Accepted: April 07, 2020

^*Autor para la correspondencia. Correo electrónico: [e-mail]

Los autores declaran no tener conflicto de interés en esta investigación.