People with the disease foie gras without alcohol they can have an increased risk of dementiaaccording to a new study published in the online edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Experts have also found that people with this liver disease, who also have heart disease or who have had a stroke, may be at even greater risk.
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease affects up to 25% of people worldwide and is one of the most common liver diseases. Also, it usually has no symptoms, so many people don’t know they have it and when they have it, they usually feel tired or with discomfort in their back. upper right abdomen.
On the one hand, excessive alcohol consumption can cause this disease, the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease can be caused by obesity or related conditions such as hypertension Oh there Type 2 diabetes. In a smaller percentage, it may be due to inflammation or liver damage.
“Common risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and dementia include Metabolic disorders such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity,” says study author Dr. Ying Chang, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden). Our study therefore aimed to determine if there is a relationship between this form of liver disease and a person’s risk of dementia, independent of these risk factors.”
To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed 30 years of Swedish national patient registers and identified a 2,898 people of 65 years or more who had been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Later they signed up 8,357 people who did not suffer from the disease and who coincided in age, sex and city of residence at the time of diagnosis.
New treatments could be developed
After more than five years of follow-up, 145 people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease5% have been diagnosed with dementia, compared to 1,291 people without liver disease, i.e. 4.6%.
The researchers adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and found that compared to other people without liver disease, people with NAFLD had a lower overall rate of dementia. 38% mayor.
By carefully studying vascular dementia caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain, experts have found that people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease have a 44% mayor than people without liver disease.
People with liver disease who also had heart disease had a 50% higher risk of dementia.
“Our study shows that the disease of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with the development of dementiawhich may be mainly due to vascular damage in the brain,” says Shang. “These results highlight the possibility that specific treatment of this form of liver disease and some heart disease concurrent use may reduce the risk of dementia.