Table 1.

Clinical and lifestyle risk factors associated with NAFLD [7,11].

Clinical Risk Factors

• Obesity

• Insulin resistance a

• Type 2 diabetes a,b

• Metabolic Syndrome c,d (↑ central adiposity, dyslipidemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, ↑ fasting glucose)

• Cardiovascular disease

• Endocrine (polycystic ovary syndrome, hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism, hypogonadism)

• Gallbladder disease

• Pancreato-duodenal resection

• Obstructive sleep apnea

• Starvation/malnutrition

Lifestyle Risk Factors

• Demographics (↑ age, first degree relatives of individuals with obesity or diabetes, sex e, race f)

• Western countries

• Western diet (↑ calories, ↑ saturated fat, ↑ trans fat, ↓ intake of n-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and fruits and vegetables)

• Physical inactivity

Abbreviations: ↑ = increase in; ↓ = indicates decrease in.

^a Independent predictors of liver-related mortality in NAFLD [24]. ^b Type 1 diabetics have increased prevalence of NAFLD, based on liver imaging with limited histological evidence [25]. ^c Independent predictor of NASH risk [20]. ^d Metabolic syndrome lacks consistent definition [26,27]. AASLD Guidelines [7] cite Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program [28]. ^e Men may have greater risk than women [29,30]. ^f Data from the U.S. indicate Hispanics and whites are at greater risk than blacks [29,31].