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Groups release new guide for treating fatty liver disease

Category: Liver Diseases

A growing number of people today are receiving liver panel tests indicating they have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, because the condition is relatively new, there have been few established methods of treating it.

To remedy the situation, a group of leading gastroenterological groups recently developed a new practice guideline for treating the disease. The American Association for the Study of the Liver, the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association collaborated on the guide.

"Although the condition has been recognized for 100 years, because of the increasing frequency of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, the prevalence and incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is rapidly becoming the most common cause of cirrhosis in the United States," said Naga P. Chalasani, one of the authors of the guideline.

He added that the new practice manual will provide physicians with evidence-based recommendations on how to treat the condition, which could lead to improved outcomes for those who have received unhealthy liver panel test results, a rapidly growing segment of the population.