Professor Won Kim of the Department of Gastroenterology at Boramae Hospital in Seoul recently announced the results of a study that confirmed the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver and the risk of dementia in elderly Koreans.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease caused by the accumulation of excess fat in the liver. Unlike alcoholic fatty liver, which occurs when fat synthesis in the liver is promoted due to excessive drinking, non-alcoholic fatty liver appears to be associated with obesity and diabetes as excessive caloric intake is the main cause. There are no specific symptoms at the time of occurrence, but if the symptoms worsen, it can progress to liver fibrosis or cirrhosis and, in severe cases, to liver cancer, so early diagnosis and prevention are important.
A joint research team led by Professor Won Kim of the Department of Gastroenterology at Boramae Hospital and Professor Sang-Min Park of the Department of Family Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital conducted a joint research team of 608,000 adults over the age of 60 who had health checkups from 2009 to 2010, excluding those who had no alcohol-related information or consumed alcohol at least once a week. 994 people were classified into three groups according to the ‘Fatty Liver Index (FLI)’, a diagnostic index for nonalcoholic fatty liver, and the association between the two diseases was analyzed by comparing and analyzing the dementia incidence rates for each group during the follow-up period. studied
As a result of the study, it was confirmed that a high fatty liver index was an independent risk factor that increased the risk of dementia in old age.
During the follow-up period, it was found that 48,614 people, or 7% of the total, developed dementia. It was confirmed that there was a statistically significant association with the increased risk (p<0.001).
In particular, in the results of Propensity Score Matching, which is widely used for comparison between groups, the group with a low fatty liver index (FLI<30) was compared to the middle group (30≦FLI).<60)에 비해 치매 발병 위험이 감소한 반면(aHR=0.96), 지방간 지수가 높은 그룹(FLI>60) was found to significantly increase the risk of dementia (aHR=1.05).
Professor Won Kim, the study’s corresponding author, said, “Through this study, we confirmed that non-alcoholic fatty liver, a major cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and cardiovascular disease, can also increase the risk of dementia in old age.” Although this has not been clearly identified, a decrease in the production of ‘Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein (LRP-1)’, which blocks the accumulation of ‘Amyloid-β (Aβ) protein’, a substance known to cause dementia due to decreased liver function, has a certain effect on the onset of dementia. It is judged to have an effect on the
He continued, “Dementia is a terrifying disease that not only threatens one’s health but also causes a lot of suffering to family members and people around them. There is a need,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, the results of this study were published in the latest issue of ‘Clinical and Molecular Hepatology’, an official journal published by the Korean Liver Society.