Hepatologist Says A Third Of US Population Has Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

CNN (6/17, Cohen) reports that approximately “a third of the US population has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to Dr. Michael Curry, a hepatologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.” He “said most of those people — about 80% — will not develop significant liver disease,” but “the other 20% will develop a disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH.” In many of cases of NASH, “liver enzyme tests are sometimes normal, and even ultrasounds and CT scans don’t always pick up on the disease.”