Written by Liver disease is surging globally and could affect nearly 1.8 billion people by 2050, research suggests. Once thought to be a condition that mainly affected heavy drinkers, cases in people who rarely or never drink alcohol have soared in recent decades. This form – now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – is driven instead by obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. It often develops silently, with no symptoms for years, meaning many people have no idea they are living with it until significant liver damage has already occurred.
Left unchecked, fat builds up in the liver, triggering inflammation and scarring over time. In some cases, this can progress to cirrhosis – where healthy tissue is replaced by permanent scar tissue – as well as liver failure and even liver cancer. Crucially, MASLD is also considered the liver manifestation of metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions including excess body fat, high blood pressure and poor blood sugar control – which significantly raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes. A major analysis from the Global Burden of Disease study, published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, estimates 1.3 billion people were living with MASLD in 2023 – a 143 per cent increase since 1990.
But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Matthew 19:30
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