A new scientific study has made a surprising finding, stating that even people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who are of normal weight should evaluate their cardiac status as they might be at great risk of cardiovascular disease than those who are overweight or obese.

A new study has discovered that those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and a lean or healthy body mass index (BMI) have an increased risk of peripheral vascular disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.

“Our team thought that people with a normal BMI would have a lower prevalence of any metabolic or cardiovascular disease, so we were surprised to find this link to cardiovascular disease ,” said Karn Wijarnpreecha, lead researcher and research fellow. University of Michigan. 

Lead researcher Karn Wijarnpreecha says: “our team had expected to see that those with a normal BMI would have a lower prevalence of any metabolic or cardiovascular conditions. So, we were very surprised to find this link to cardiovascular disease.

“Too often, we overlook NAFLD patients with a normal BMI, because we assume their risk for more serious conditions is lower than those who are overweight. But this way of thinking may be putting these patients at risk.”

Although overweight or obese persons are more likely to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is defined as the buildup of fat in the liver, those of normal weight are not immune. However, research on this subset of the population with this illness is limited.

For this reason, the researchers compared the prevalence of liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, and chronic kidney disease according to the patients’ body mass index in a retrospective study of 10,000 adults diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who were hospitalized at the University of Michigan University from 2012 to 2021.

• lean (BMI = 18.5 to 24.9)
• overweight (BMI = 25-29.9),
• category 1 obese (BMI = 30-34.9)
• obese category 2-3 (BMI = 35- <40).

Cirrhosis, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were found to be less common in lean people. The prevalence of peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and any cardiovascular disease was higher. According to further data analysis, age, gender, ethnicity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia had no effect on their presence in these patients.

Following these surprising findings, the researchers intend to pursue long-term study focusing on slim individuals to see if they are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as a result of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Finally, researchers urge physicians not to disregard slim persons with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the implications it may have on their health, which are similar to those of the overweight and obese.

Image Credit: Getty

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