How Would You Manage This Patient With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease?
Authors: Howard Libman, Z. Gordon Jiang, Elliot B. Tapper, Eileen E. Reynolds
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Letters3 December 2019How Would You Manage This Patient With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease?Howard Libman, MD, Z. Gordon Jiang, MD, PhD, Elliot B. Tapper, MD, and Eileen E. Reynolds, MDHoward Libman, MDBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (H.L., Z.G.J., E.E.R.)Search for more papers by this author, Z. Gordon Jiang, MD, PhDBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (H.L., Z.G.J., E.E.R.)Search for more papers by this author, Elliot B. Tapper, MDMichigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan (E.B.T.)Search for more papers by this author, and Eileen E. Reynolds, MDBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (H.L., Z.G.J., E.E.R.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L19-0668 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:The effect of mild to moderate alcohol consumption on patients with NAFLD in the absence of significant fibrosis (that is, those with stage 0 to 1 fibrosis) remains controversial. It is difficult to conclude a generalizable benefit from alcohol use on the basis of current evidence, which is largely observational and flawed by confounding. Two recent prospective studies have reached different conclusions. Åberg and colleagues (1) found that even low alcohol intake increased the risk for advanced liver disease and cancer in patients with fatty liver disease in the Finnish health examination surveys. Chang and associates (2) reported ...References1. Åberg F, Puukka P, Salomaa V, et al. Risks of light and moderate alcohol use in fatty liver disease: follow-up of population cohorts. Hepatology. 2019. [PMID: 31323122] doi:10.1002/hep.30864 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Chang Y, Ryu S, Kim Y, et al. Low levels of alcohol consumption, obesity, and development of fatty liver with and without evidence of advanced fibrosis. Hepatology. 2019. [PMID: 31325180] doi:10.1002/hep.30867 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (H.L., Z.G.J., E.E.R.)Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan (E.B.T.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M19-1125. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoHow Would You Manage This Patient With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease? Howard Libman , Z. Gordon Jiang , Elliot B. Tapper , and Eileen E. Reynolds How Would You Manage This Patient With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease? Brian L. Pearlman Metrics Cited byAdvanced liver fibrosis and the metabolic syndrome in a primary care setting 3 December 2019Volume 171, Issue 11Page: 862KeywordsAlcoholic liver diseaseAlcoholsDisclosureFatty liverFibrosisHealth surveysLiver diseasesNon-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseProspective studiesRisk management ePublished: 3 December 2019 Issue Published: 3 December 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...