title: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: what the clinician needs to know.
abstract: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent cause of liver disease in the Western world. Furthermore, it is increasing worldwide, paralleling the obesity pandemic. Though highly frequent, only about one fifth of affected subjects are at risk of developing the progressive form of the disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with fibrosis. Even in the latter, liver disease is slowly progressive, though, since it is so prevalent, it is already the third cause of liver transplantation in the United States, and it is predicted to get to the top of the ranking in few years. Of relevance, fatty liver is also associated with increased overall mortality and particularly increased cardiovascular mortality. The literature and amount of published papers on NAFLD is increasing as fast as its prevalence, which makes it difficult to keep updated in this topic. This review aims to summarize the latest knowledge on NAFLD, in order to help clinicians understanding its pathogenesis and advances on diagnosis and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Mariana Verdelho Machado, Helena Cortez-Pinto, Departamento de Gastrenterologia, Laboratório de Nutrição, Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria, Lisbon 1649-035, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mariana Verdelho
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Mariana Verdelho Machado, Helena Cortez-Pinto, Departamento de Gastrenterologia, Laboratório de Nutrição, Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria, Lisbon 1649-035, Portugal.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cortez-Pinto
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D018450:Disease Progression; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Diagnosis; Epidemiology; Genetics; Insulin resistance; Management; Metabolic syndrome; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Pathogenesis; Prognosis