Healthspan means you need to be healthy. Historically, our medical system tends to be reactionary, where you are fine if your lab tests come back okay. You don’t do treatments until something is abnormal. But with increased visibility into our bodies, we are finding people have pathologic changes in their body before they ever get symptoms. And by the time there are symptoms, it is hard to reverse.
Biohacking is all about this. PREVENTION is key. Doing things now so you don’t have an issue later.
There are buzzwords in this part of medicine. Hepatic steatosis, Fatty liver is “hepatic” = liver, “steatosis” = fatty. MASLD = metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease. This is caused by diabetes, but it also is found in non diabetics. Fatty liver is associated with heart disease and health issues.
Should I Worry About Fatty Liver?
Yes. This study, published in Obesity 2024, showed that 52% of adults screened had fatty liver, with or WITHOUT diabetes. These were people who had no prior diagnosis of MASLD. They found that 50% of adults younger than age 45 have fatty liver, and 7.5% already had fibrosis. The original study was focused on looking at the risk of obesity in those with Type 2 diabetes, looking for fibrosis. But they found the controls had issues too.
Study: “Obesity increases the risk of hepatic fibrosis in young adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the need to screen,” Obesity, Sept 2024
- 1420 participants
- 63% with known type 2 diabetes, 37% without
- No history of metabolic dysfunction fatty liver
- Had labwork and scan to look for liver fat and fibrosis. When indicated, MRI and liver biopsy were done
Findings:
- 243 of the participants were under age 45.
- Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome were highly prevalent
- Fatty liver in 50% (vs 52% in older adults)
- Liver fibrosis in 7.5 % (vs 9% in older adults)
- Both were significantly higher in those with both obesity and type 2 diabetes. (71% and 15.7%)
Our Thoughts?
WOW. Your liver is very important. You cannot live without your liver, and you only have one. The fact that 50% of the participants who were not diabetic and had no history of fatty liver HAD fatty liver is significant. Liver fibrosis in 7.5% of them shows damage to the liver.
Add in that obesity, and diabetes significantly increased these risks and makes us focus even more on blood sugar regulation and weight.
How Can Biohackr Health Help?
- TEST. We can look at your insulin panel (what is your HbA1c?) and liver function tests.
- CGM. Continuous glucose monitor. Are you pre diabetic? We strongly believe that managing your blood sugar better is a fundamental key to all areas of health — inflammation, cancer, heart disease, and dementia. This study shows diabetes significantly increased the risk of fatty liver (50%—> 71%)
- LOSE WEIGHT. Semaglutide and tirzepatide, any of the GLP-1 agonists, are super helpful to lose weight. Gone are the days of “just increase your activity” or “eat chicken breasts”. We understand weight gain is genetic and multifactorial. For your health, if you are overweight, lose the weight. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are not new and unknown — these medications have been used on thousands of patients. We at Biohackr Health have personally treated hundreds and hundreds of patients and seen the improvements in weight and health: blood pressure, blood sugar, and more.
- GLP-1 AGONISTS LOWER FATTY LIVER. Studies have shown that semaglutide and GLP agonists help with fatty liver.
- EXERCISE. Particularly walking after you eat can help blunt the glucose spike seen after eating.
- PROBIOTIC. Ours includes strains good for glucose control.
We publish these blogs to alert you to the hidden signs of damage. If you have fatty liver, it is a sign that you are not healthy. For those in this study, they were young (below age 45) with no history of diabetes, yet 50% of them had changes.
