New Delhi: Every third Indian has fatty liver, which predates Type 2 Diabetes and other metabolic disorders, said Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is himself a nationally renowned Diabetologist.

Ministry of Science & Technology said the remarks were made by Dr Singh while launching Indo-French Liver and Metabolic Disease Network (InFLiMeN) a virtual node to prevent and cure metabolic liver diseases at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences today in New Delhi.

The Ministry said that Dr Singh highlighted that the Indo-French Node, InFLiMeN, aims to address key issues related to a common metabolic liver disorder, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer eventually.

“It predates diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and many other diseases. As an endocrinologist myself, I understand the nuances of fatty liver and its relation with diabetes and other metabolic disorders,” Dr Singh said, adding, “Both the Indian subcontinent and Europe are attributable to changes in lifestyle, diet and importantly metabolic syndromes such as diabetes and obesity which have contributed to a significant rise in NAFLD.”

The Minister shared that nearly 1 in 3 Indians has fatty liver. “While in the West, most NAFLD is associated with obesity, intriguingly in the Indian subcontinent, NAFLD occurs in about 20% of non-obese patients.”