Prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver disease in the Shuiguohu district of Wuhan city, central China

Abstract

Background: Fatty liver disease (FLD) is highly prevalent in Western countries, but recent data have shown that FLD is also emerging in China. Aim: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of FLD in the Shuiguohu district of Wuhan city, central China, during 1995China, during -2004. Methods: 12247 individuals (7179 men and 5068 women) over 18 years of age who were living in the area were investigated for FLD in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from 1995 to 2004. FLD was determined by the ultrasonographic method. Height, weight, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, alanine aminotransferase, total cholesterol and triglyceride were determined by routine laboratory methods. Results: The prevalence of FLD was 12.5% in 1995, and rose gradually to 24.5% by 2003-4. The prevalence was twice as high in men (28.1%) as in women (13.8%), and increased with age in females, and males ,60 years of age. Multivariate analysis showed that several risk factors were profoundly associated with the prevalence of FLD, including male sex, old age, obesity, hyperlipidaemia (cholesterol or triglyceride), fasting hyperglycemia and hypertension. Conclusion: The prevalence of FLD in the Shuiguohu district of Wuhan city, central China, was shown to have increased during the 10-year period, 1995 to 2004. The FLD was found to be closely associated with sex, age, obesity and other metabolic syndrome features.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Review and Update

“…Recently, much attention has been focused on the rising incidence of NAFLD in several Asian countries, including China, Korea, Japan, and India [11][12][13][14]. Various authors have shown that Asian patients with NAFLD display higher levels of visceral adiposity at lower body mass index (BMI) than the Caucasian population, and new BMI criteria have been created to adjust for this anthropometric difference [12,15,16].…”

Vitamin E has a beneficial effect on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…NAFLD and NASH are closely related to obesity and insulin resistance, and are now recognized as hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome [26][27][28] . Diet and lifestyle intervention are primary therapies in the management of these patients, but it is not easy for patients with NAFLD/NASH to maintain these interventions 29,30 . Several studies have been aimed to discover pharmacological treatments for NAFLD/NASH; however, despite the clinical importance, there is still a lack of consensus for pharmacological treatment on NAFLD/NASH.…”

Epidemiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in China

“…In addition, the prevalence of NAFLD in Hong Kong Chinese was 16% [21], and in an adult population of Taiwan it was 12% [22]. Of particular interest, the prevalence of fatty liver in Shanghai and Wuhan (capital of Hubei province, central China) has approximately doubled in the past 7-10 years [23,24]. Specifically, it has increased from 13% to 25% in participants of routine health examinations in the Shuiguohu district of Wuhan [24], and from 4% to 14% in Shanghai BaoSteel Group employees [23].…”

“…Of particular interest, the prevalence of fatty liver in Shanghai and Wuhan (capital of Hubei province, central China) has approximately doubled in the past 7-10 years [23,24]. Specifically, it has increased from 13% to 25% in participants of routine health examinations in the Shuiguohu district of Wuhan [24], and from 4% to 14% in Shanghai BaoSteel Group employees [23]. Among the latter, the prevalence of fatty liver in participants with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (>40 U/L) increased from 26% to 51% between 1995 and 2002 [23].…”