Experts: Fatty liver becomes top liver disease in China

Fatty liver has surpassed viral hepatitis to become the top liver disease in China. About one-fourth of young and middle-aged people in the nation have fatty liver, medical experts said on Wednesday, ahead of Thursday's World Hepatitis Day.

People with fatty liver are more likely to suffer cirrhosis and liver cancer. Such patients' immunity against hepatitis is also lower than ordinary people, which means they have a higher chance of getting infected with hepatitis B and C, experts said.

Hepatitis is the major cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and other relevant diseases, seriously impacting public health.

According to the World Health Organization, 354 million people across the globe are infected with hepatitis B or C, 78 percent of which haven't received effective testing and treatment. There are three million new infections globally each year, with 1.1 million people dying of viral hepatitis and related diseases annually. About 96 percent of mortality is caused by hepatitis B or C infection.

"Hepatitis prevention and control is extremely important. The combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicine can play an important role in hepatitis treatment," said Dr Zhu Junfeng from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

China is home to a large number of people with liver disease. There are 70 million people with chronic hepatitis B and 10 million with chronic hepatitis C in the country.

Thanks to the promotion of vaccination, the number of people with hepatitis B is falling but those with non-contagious liver diseases like fatty liver and autoimmune hepatitis are rising.

"Due to an unhealthy lifestyle and low awareness, the prevalence of fatty liver is increasing. Over 70 percent of men between 30 and 40 have fatty liver, with more young patients being detected with fatty liver, which is also not unusual among obese children," Zhu said.

"There is a need to raise high public high awareness about fatty liver, which can cause not only cirrhosis and liver cancer but also other complications like cardiovascular diseases, especially among young and middle-aged population," he pointed out.

"Early detection and proper treatment are key for the prevention and control of fatty liver disease."