By IANS,
Washington : Excess fat in the liver is more likely to trigger heart disease and diabetes, says a new study.
When fats collects in the liver, people experience serious metabolic problems like insulin resistance, which impairs the body’s ability to metabolise sugar. Having too much liver fat is known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NFLD).
Those with elevated liver fat are at particularly high risk for heart disease and diabetes, says senior study investigator Samuel Klein. They need to be treated aggressively to help them lose weight because dropping kilograms can make a big difference, adds Klein, professor at the Washington University School of Medicine – St. Louis (WUSM-SL).
“Fatty liver disease (NFLD) is completely reversible,” he says. “If you lose a small amount of weight, you can markedly reduce the fat content in your liver. In fact, even two days of calorie restriction can cause a large reduction in liver fat and improvement in liver insulin sensitivity.”
“We have found that excess fat in the liver, not visceral fat, is a key marker of metabolic dysfunction. Visceral fat might simply be an innocent bystander that is associated with liver fat,” says Klein, according to a WUSM-SL release.
The study was published online in PNAS Early Edition.