Research
Hormonal
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), particularly the NASH subtype and advanced fibrosis, is an independent risk factor for increased incidence and mortality of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
If you have been diagnosed with fatty liver (NAFLD) or NASH, you must prioritize cardiovascular health screening. This condition independently increases your risk of heart disease and stroke, even if your weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar are currently managed. Regular cardiac risk assessments are essential.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The aggregate evidence provides strong evidence that individuals with NAFLD are at increased ‘independent’ risk of developing CVD. The risk of CVD mortality may be greater in subgroups of subjects with NASH and advanced fibrosis, compared to those with simple steatosis
Why this rating
Supported by multiple large prospective and retrospective studies with hard endpoints, though heterogeneity in diagnosis methods exists.
Source
Extrahepatic complications of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Matthew J. Armstrong et al. · Hepatology · 2013
DOI 10.1002/hep.26717
narrative_reviewCited 603×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Ultrasound-defined NAFLD is associated with a two- to five-fold increased risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM), independent of lifestyle and metabolic confounders.Good
- NAFLD, particularly biopsy-proven NASH, is associated with a greater prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and an increased risk of incident CKD.Moderate
- Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is associated with a significantly higher risk of colorectal adenomas and cancer compared to simple steatosis or healthy controls.Moderate
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