Episode 49: Nonalcoholic Liver Disease
Dr. Johanna DiStefano joins TGen Talks to discuss nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, a condition that causes excess amount of fat in one\u2019s liver cells. As evidenced by its name (which could use an update, according to our guest) NAFLD covers a wide-range of liver conditions with the \u201calcohol\u201d portion somewhat misleading, as it\u2019s not always that cut and dry.\n\xa0 Different factors, such as genetics, lifestyle, and diet could also play a role in NAFLD. It could also be one\u2019s gender or one\u2019s stage in life. For example, the risk increases for women following menopause.\n\xa0 Dr. DiStefano discusses her labs focus on the genetic factors that influence the development of NAFLD and increasing awareness of this population among clinicians.\xa0\n\xa0 How does nonalcoholic fatty liver disease develop? How does the liver communicate with other cells in the body, other organs in the body?\xa0\n\xa0 The long-term goal, of course, is identifying better ways to detect and treat fatty liver disease. And that means new tests and new drugs.\xa0\n\xa0 All this and more on TGen Talks.