"If You Have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, 'Muscle Loss' Occurs More and Faster"

Samsung Seoul Hospital Professors Kwak Geum-yeon and Jo Joo-hee Research Team
More Pronounced Under 50, Diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Smoking, and Drinking
"Reduce Weight and Combine with Muscle Exercise"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A study has found that if you have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, muscle loss occurs more significantly and more rapidly.

A research team led by Professors Kwak Geum-yeon and Shin Dong-hyun from the Department of Gastroenterology at Samsung Seoul Hospital, Professors Jo Joo-hee and Kang Dan-bi from the Clinical Epidemiology Research Center, and Professor Kang Mi-ra from the Health Medicine Center analyzed data from 52,815 adult men and women aged 20 and older who underwent health check-ups at least twice between 2006 and 2016 at Samsung Seoul Hospital, confirming these findings on the 29th.

The average age of the study subjects was 49.1 years, and 16,859 people, accounting for 31.9% of the total, were diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease through ultrasound examination. The research team examined changes in appendicular muscle mass measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) according to the presence or absence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. As a result, muscle loss occurred with aging, but those with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease experienced an average muscle mass decrease of about 25% more.

In particular, it was confirmed that patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease who had progressed liver fibrosis experienced about twice as much muscle loss. Additionally, the correlation between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and muscle loss was more pronounced in individuals under their 50s, those with diabetes or hyperlipidemia, smokers, and those with high alcohol consumption.

With the confirmation that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is one of the causes of muscle loss, the research team emphasized that patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease should engage in exercises that build muscle while reducing weight. Professor Kwak Geum-yeon stated, "Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease not only inhibits protein synthesis in the body but is often accompanied by metabolic diseases, making muscle loss more likely," adding, "Loss of skeletal muscle can itself become a disease, but it also promotes the occurrence of other diseases and makes treatment difficult, so it should not be taken lightly."

This study was published in the recent issue of 'Hepatology' (IF 17.425), the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.