Waist circumference is a risk factor for non-alcoholic liver disease, according to the results of a study presented at the International Liver Congress and disseminated by Eurekalert. The accumulation of fat around the waist can lead to complications, such as the development of nonalcoholic liver disease.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a disease in which fat accumulates in the liver. In some cases, it can cause inflammation of the liver and eventually lead to cirrhosis, which can seriously affect the liver’s ability to function.
“Although this disease is often associated with obesity, research has found that a percentage of patients are not actually obese“said Dr Rosa Lombardi, of the Internal Medicine Unit, University of Milan in Italy.” This study is the first to show that patients with abdominal fat but normal body weight have a higher risk to develop this disease that obese patients. “
Researchers at the University of Milan carried out a study of 373 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The subjects were divided according to theBody mass index, their waistlines and their abdominal fat mass.
Abdominal fat more dangerous than obesity
The researchers observed that patients with an accumulation of abdominal fat but a normal body weight had a higher risk than obese patients of developing nonalcoholic liver disease. In fact, women with a waist circumference of over 90 cm and men who accumulate more than one meter of body fat around their waist are significantly more affected by metabolic syndrome (diabetes, arterial hypertension and obesity), arterial disease (deposits of cholesterol in the carotid artery), fibrosis of the liver, which obese.
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