Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increases the risk of dementia in old age, study finds.
If you are over the age of 60, you need to improve your eating habits, such as high-calorie foods and stimulant late-night meals, so that fat does not accumulate in the liver excessively to prevent dementia.
A research team led by Professor Kim Won of Seoul National University Hospital and Gastroenterology Department of Seoul Boramae Hospital and Professor Park Sang-min of Seoul National University Hospital Department of Family Medicine confirmed the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver and the risk of dementia in the elderly in Korea in the latest issue of the Journal of the Korean Liver Association (Clinical and Molecular Hepatology). announced.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease 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 is associated with obesity and diabetes as the main cause is excessive caloric intake.
There are no specific symptoms at the time of occurrence, but if it worsens, it can progress to liver fibrosis or cirrhosis and, in severe cases, to liver cancer, so early diagnosis and prevention are important.
The research team analyzed 608,994 people aged 60 and over who received a health checkup between 2009 and 2010 (the population excluding those who did not have alcohol-related information or who drink more than once a week) to obtain a non-alcoholic fatty liver diagnostic index called the Fatty Liver Index (FLI). ‘, and classified into three groups according to the severity, and compared and analyzed the dementia incidence rates for each group that appeared during the follow-up period.
As a result, it was confirmed that a high fatty liver index is an independent risk factor that increases the risk of developing dementia in old age.
During follow-up, 48,614 patients (7%) developed dementia.
After adjusting for confounding variables such as age, sex, and smoking, it was confirmed that a high fatty liver index had a statistically significant association with an increased risk of dementia.
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 said, “This study confirmed that nonalcoholic fatty liver, the main cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and cardiovascular disease, can also increase the risk of dementia in old age. The reduction in the production of ‘low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP-1)’, which blocks the accumulation of known ‘amyloid-beta protein’, is considered to have some effect on the onset of dementia.”
Professor Kim said, “Dementia is a terrifying disease that not only threatens the individual’s health, but also causes a lot of suffering to family members and people around them. I need it,” he said.
Kwon Dae-ik medical journalist [email protected]