Fatty‑liver numbers jump

Fat can build up inside the liver for years without symptoms, and a new Lancet analysis estimates that metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease affected about 1.3 billion people in 2023. (thelancet.com) The study, published in *The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology* on April 13, 2026, put global prevalence at 16.1% in 2023 and projected roughly 1.8 billion cases by 2050. (thelancet.com, ajmc.com) The paper used Global Burden of Disease 2023 data from 204 countries and territories and estimated a 143% increase in the number of people living with the condition since 1990. (thelancet.com, scimex.org) Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, is the name liver societies adopted in June 2023 for what had long been called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The new term ties the illness more directly to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other metabolic risk factors. (aasld.org, aasld.org) Researchers said the projected increase is being driven mainly by population growth along with rising obesity and high blood sugar levels. The World Health Organization says 890 million adults were living with obesity in 2022, and 2.5 billion adults were overweight. (scimex.org, who.int) The diabetes trend runs in the same direction. The International Diabetes Federation says diabetes caused 3.4 million deaths in 2024 and that 252 million adults living with diabetes were undiagnosed. (diabetesatlas.org, diabetesatlas.org) The Lancet analysis found the heaviest MASLD burden in North Africa and the Middle East, with much lower rates in high-income Asia Pacific. AJMC’s summary of the paper said Kuwait had the highest national rate and Finland the lowest. (ajmc.com, scimex.org) The disease often starts in an early stage, with fat in the liver, but it can progress to scarring, cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. The Scimex summary of the Lancet release said the overall rate of health loss stayed relatively stable even as case counts climbed, suggesting more of the growth is in earlier-stage disease. (scimex.org, ajmc.com) In Europe and the United States, MASLD was the second leading cause of end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation as of 2023, according to AJMC’s report on the study. That leaves health systems facing more screening, diabetes care, weight management, and long-term liver complications at the same time. (ajmc.com) The headline number is a liver statistic, but the study tracks a broader metabolic shift that has been building since 1990. By 2050, the count is projected to be larger not because the disease changed names, but because more people are living with the risks that drive it. (thelancet.com, who.int, diabetesatlas.org)