One in four of us now live with silent killer condition – lifestyle to blame

Our dietary health is now so appallingly bad one in four has fatty liver disease, shocking figures reveal.

The alarming statistic sheds new light on a global obesity epidemic that is spiralling out of control.

The silent killer – known medically as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD] – usually has no symptoms, although some sufferers experience stomach pain, feel weak and tired.

There are no treatments, but losing weight, eating healthily and regular exercise can help. Those most at risk are overweight, have diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The growing crisis will be exposed at the Integrative Healthcare and Applied Nutrition summit in London in April where internationally-renowned speakers will reveal what is really behind the exponential rise.

Keynote speaker and NHS GP Dr David Unwin said: “In fact, the situation is even worse as here we are only talking about non-alcoholic fatty liver [NAFLD] – a pandemic sweeping the world that is affecting younger and younger people. 

“This is important because NAFLD impacts significantly on mortality and morbidity particularly via cardiovascular disease. NAFLD is strongly associated with some other pandemics; central obesity, high triglyceride levels and type 2 diabetes. We will be discussing how poor diet fits into this along with the idea we are overfed and undernourished.

“I will be showing how an improved diet has improved not just liver function for my patients but also cardiovascular risk and T2 diabetes.​”

The ​d​evastating data – taken from a 2023 global systematic review of NAFLD – means 26 million in Britain and 3 billion in the world have it. 

NAFLD is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. Early-stage NAFLD does not usually cause any harm, but it can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it gets worse.

Having high levels of fat in the liver is also associated with an increased risk of serious health problems. In diabetics NAFLD increases the chance of developing heart problems.

Dr Unwin is Britain’s most successful GP having brought 150 patients back from the brink with low-carb diets to reverse type 2 diabetes.

The medic and his team started offering the option 12 years ago at his surgery in Southport.

And the results are remarkable with more than half of those who signed up cured of the condition and medication-free.

Of those who had only had the condition for a year or less, 77% achieved drug-free remission. Among the patients that continued to need medication, 97% managed to get their diabetes symptoms under control.

Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition with a prevalence rising rapidly, especially among children. The problem is uncontrolled blood sugar with sufferers five times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

Dr Unwin said: “I am often asked why so few doctors set up clinics to do work like this. Several times I have had it pointed out I am a mug to do all this extra work for no extra pay to fund our low carb service. 

“The NHS will never be able to cope until we do something about demand by looking seriously at prevention of chronic diseases. 

“I believe we have eaten our way into a pandemic of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and chronic ill health. It is urgent we do something to help people understand that we are what we eat.

“In my practice near Liverpool we have seen an astonishing ten-fold increase in Type 2 diabetes since I started as a GP in 1986. In 40 years this cannot be genetic but an environmental problem with poor diet as the most likely culprit. 

“I am convinced it has been caused by the dramatic increase in poor quality takeaway meals and run-away consumption of junk foods.”

His dietary approach, which has saved the NHS almost £400,000 in the cost of diabetes drugs, sees patients eat nutritious and satiating food that does not see blood sugar rocket, like green vegetables, meat, fish, eggs and dairy. 

They are told to avoid industrially-made and so-called beige foods, like pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, and processed meats, crisps, snacks and alcohol. 

On average patients in Dr Unwin’s diabetes clinic – run for free and as an extra service – lost 10% of their body weight (equal to one and a half stones) – a weight loss maintained for three years.

There are now almost 5 million type 2 sufferers in the UK, while a similar number thought to have it but are undiagnosed. A further 13 million are at risk.

Taken together, it means roughly one third of the UK population has or is prone to the disease. 

It is now being diagnosed routinely in children when 40 years ago it was almost exclusively a condition seen in the elderly and known as Sugar Diabetes.

The disease is diagnosed with a haemoglobin blood test known as a Hba1c with the threshold being two readings of 48 or more. A reading of 42 or above is considered pre-diabetes. 

Starchy foods like bread or potato are broken down into sugar by digestion but in people with the disease the hormone insulin – which regulates blood sugar – fails and sufferers become resistant to its effects. Blood sugar starts to rise, damaging circulation and blood vessels, causing inflammation. Sufferers are often overweight as livers become clogged with fat.

Before launching his pioneering service Dr Unwin had never heard of a single case of remission from Type 2 diabetes without drugs. 

The NHS spends £15 billion a year servicing the condition – equal to £1 million every hour. Metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed diabetes medications.