1-in-4 U.S.adults has fatty liver disease

SAN FRANCISCO , March 25 (UPI) -- One-in-four U.S. adults suffers from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease -- liver disease characterized by excessive fat in the liver, U.S. researchers said.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of abnormal liver enzymes, is considered by many to be a manifestation of the metabolic syndrome -- belly fat, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, high cholesterol -- which result in an increased risk of coronary heart disease.

Study leader Joanne Krasnoff of the University of California San Francisco recruited 37 adult patients with a spectrum of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease severity measured by liver biopsy.

Patients had suboptimal cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, body composition and physical activity participation. More than 97 percent had a body fat percentage that put them at increased risk for morbidity and mortality and less than 20 percent met recommended guidelines for physical activity.

The study, published in the April issue of Hepatology, demonstrated lower cardiorespiratory fitness in subjects with increasing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease severity.

However, the finding raised the question of a cause-or-effect phenomenon -- does cardiorespiratory fitness attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or does increasing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease severity result in a decline in cardiorespiratory fitness? the authors asked.