A comprehensive study from Karolinska Institutet shows that people with fatty liver disease have almost twice the mortality rate of the general population.

They have an increased risk of dying from both liver diseases and common diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to the study, “Cause-specific mortality in 13,099 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in Sweden”, published in the Journal of Hepatology.

It is estimated that one in five people in Sweden has fatty liver disease known as MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease), and globally there may be as many as one in four. The disease is caused by overweight or obesity and is characterized by an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver, which can lead to severe liver damage and liver cancer.

Hidden health condition

“Many people are not aware that they have fatty liver disease because it rarely causes any symptoms in the earlier stages,” says Axel Wester, assistant professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet and physician at Karolinska University Hospital. “Our study shows that people diagnosed with MASLD have an increased risk of dying from many different diseases, not just liver disease.”

The researchers identified all patients diagnosed with MASLD in Sweden between 2002 and 2020, more than 13,000 patients in total, and analyzed their risk of death from different causes compared to the general population.

The overall mortality rate for people with MASLD was almost twice as high. The risk was elevated for nearly all causes of death studied, but especially for death from liver disease (27 times higher mortality) and liver cancer (35 times higher mortality). However, the most common causes of death were cardiovascular disease and non-liver cancer, with mortality rates 54 and 47% higher, respectively.

A holistic approach

People with MASLD also had an increased risk of dying from infections, gastrointestinal diseases, respiratory diseases, endocrine diseases or external causes, but not from mental illness.

“It is important that we do not only focus on the liver when treating patients with fatty liver disease,” says Hannes Hagström, adjunct professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet and senior physician at Karolinska University Hospital.

“A holistic approach and early intervention involving different medical specialties can be crucial to improve the prognosis for these patients.”

The study was led by Hannes Hagström and Axel Wester, who share the last authorship, while Gabriel Issa, a medical student at Karolinska Institutet, is the first author.