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Causes and risk factors of the Fatty Liver Disease

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There are many causes of fat accumulation in the liver.

The most common cause is a diet rich in fat and sugar that promotes the formation of fat (a process known as lipid synthesis) and exceeds the liver's ability to eliminate it.

The main risk factors for suffering fatty liver disease are:

Obesity.

Diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome, which is a set of risk factors that predispose to heart disease: diabetes, high cholesterol and excess sugar, for example.

These factors promote excess lipid synthesis and its transfer from adipose tissue (tissue where fat is stored) to the liver, making elimination difficult.

For this reason, the prevalence of the disease among patients with obesity or diabetes is 60-80%. The disease, however, also occurs in people without these risk factors and, in these cases, it is usually due to genetic causes. People affected by this genetic variant have a tendency to synthesise lipids or decrease their metabolism (processing); thus reducing their elimination and increasing accumulation.

The best way to prevent the disease is to follow a balanced diet and not be overweight or obese. Once the disease appears, weight loss and optimal control of metabolic risk factors (e.g. cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes) will promote its improvement and help prevent rapid progression.

Substantiated information by:

Isabel Graupera Garcia-Milà Hepatologist Senior Specialist Hepatology Service

Marta Cervera Carbonell Nurse Hepatology Service

Pere Ginès Gibert Hepatologist Hepatology Service

Published: 19 August 2022
Updated: 26 August 2022

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