title: Fatty liver: how frequent is it and why?
abstract: There is increasing evidence that fatty liver may be the most frequent liver disorder in Western countries. However, the epidemiology of fatty liver is still not fully understood and there is a clear need of better assessing and defining the potential role of the risk factors identified by clinical series in the general population. This article reviews the available data on the epidemiology of fatty liver and addresses some important questions that should be answered in much needed future research.
authors.affiliation: Centro Studi Fegato, AREA Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bedogni
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellentani
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005235:Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D012106:Research; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis