Study finds patients with fatty liver disease are more likely to suffer from personality disorder

People with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are more likely to suffer from a personality disorder than those without the disease, a new study has found.

Researchers also found that NAFLD patients often exhibit uncontrolled eating behavior, even though they know they need to be careful with their diet and exercise to keep the disease in check.

NAFLD has become the most common cause of chronic liver disease in affluent societies and is responsible for a significant increase in liver-related deaths.

Up to one in three people in the UK have fatty liver disease. Although there are few symptoms in the early stages, the disease can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure in people at risk, such as people with diabetes.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a more severe form of NAFLD in which the liver becomes inflamed, is the most common cause of cirrhosis in developed countries, and deaths from liver disease have quadrupled in the past 50 years. Increased has.

survey results BMC GastroenterologyResearchers from the University of Birmingham have found that people with NAFLD are about three times more likely to suffer from a personality disorder than people without the disease.

Scientists are urging people with NAFLD to be tested for personality disorders. If identified, these mental health disorders should be treated before the patient begins attempting to control diet or increase physical activity.

Co-author Dr Jonathan Catling, from the University of Birmingham, said: “The increased prevalence of personality disorders in patients with NAFLD is particularly surprising, as this is not a problem associated with all liver diseases, but is more common in patients with NAFLD. “It shows that this is a problem that is only relevant to this issue.”

“Importantly, there were no significant differences in anxiety or depression between the two groups, even though both mental health conditions are often associated with chronic liver disease, so this is a common mental health condition. It doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

Scientists say that although simple measures such as dietary changes and increased physical activity have been proven to prevent disease progression in NAFLD, convincing patients to follow a diet and exercise program is often difficult. Pointed out. This may reflect the fact that such patients are often encouraged to increase their protein and calorie intake to reverse the nutritional deficiencies commonly seen in chronic liver disease.

Although NAFLD patients are aware of the beneficial effects of lifestyle modifications, they are often unable to make the changes necessary to improve their lifestyle. Among patients transplanted for NAFLD, two-fifths of patients showed signs of disease recurrence within 5 years after transplantation.

Dr. Catling continued, “Our findings provide an opportunity to motivate NAFLD patients to improve their diet and understanding to better understand how to provide more effective treatment, namely how to prevent recurrence of the disease after liver transplantation. “This suggests an urgent need to reconsider attitudes towards exercise,” he added.

One of the factors that determines patients’ attitudes toward weight loss is their internal and external “locus of control” (LoC), that is, the extent to which they believe they have control over their life events. Patients with high internal LoC perceive life events as a result of their own actions and are more likely to be successful in losing weight.

NAFLD patients may have increased external LoC, rather similar to individuals with substance abuse disorders. That is, they view life events as outside of their control and have a hard time making and maintaining the necessary changes to their diet and exercise regime to prevent the disease from progressing to a more serious and irreversible state. That’s what I’m doing. stage of the disease.

In 2011, NAFLD was reported to be prevalent in up to 25% of the world’s adult population. This disease is a metabolic disorder characterized by the presence of lipid droplets in the liver despite the absence of excessive alcohol intake.

NAFLD is a global health problem and is a multifaceted disease where the main risk factors are obesity and insulin resistance. Because of its close association with obesity, the prevalence of NAFLD continues to pose a major public health challenge as Western societies grapple with the rise in obesity-related diseases.