I’m an Ultrasound Tech. I’ve been doing Ultrasounds for 30Yrs now. I have seen fatty livers among the general populations. I would say 60% have some degree of fatty liver. It’s drinking, medications, diet, and environment that are the causes if you haven’t been diagnosed with hep a,b or c.
Add to that what I believe is an epidemic problem for all adults. And that problem is lack of aerobic exercise. I live in a sub-division of 300 condo's with a mix of young people and seniors. Out of those 300 families I see barely 20 people who exercise regularly. The well equipped gym is empty most of the time, and the mile and a half walking trail is deserted most of the time. No wonder doctor's offices are so crowded.
Thanks Ivory, good info.
I’ve been told that newer generation ultrasound machines are going make it much easier to make a definite, non-invasive, DX of NAFLD and to follow it. Fewer liver biopsies will be needed. My understanding is that NAFLD requires more than just a “fatty liver” and that is a relatively recently recognized specific DX, discovered after hepatitis C and some other things were finally separated from the broad category of non-A, non-B, hepatitis. A large chunk of the liver disease we Dermatologists used to blame on the methotrexate we used to treat severe psoriasis really were NAFLD and may well be more causally linked to the psoriasis than to the drug used to treat that. Maybe this time the mighty HIV research lobby can produce gains for more than its niche demographics.