Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients at Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the major health problems which is characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver. Worldwide, NAFLD has a reported prevalence of 6 to 35 percent in the general population. The prevalence of NAFLD has increased as more patients develop a sedentary lifestyle, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

AIM & OBJECTIVES: To study cardiovascular disease risk factors among NAFLD patients aiming to reduce morbidity and mortality.

METHODOLOGY: This was a cross sectional study. Cardiovascular risk factors questionnaire including personal data, BMI, lipid profile and blood pressure was used to obtain the data from 150 patients with ultrasound diagnosed NAFLD and 150 patients with no evidence of NAFLD at Umm Al Qura University medical center, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS: 54.7% out of 150 NAFLD patients were males, 91.3% were obese, 50.7% were diabetics, 28% hypertensive, 53.7% had high cholesterol level, 52.7 % had high triglycerides and 64.6% had high LDL level. Results showed significant high prevalence of most of CVD risk factors among NAFD patients in comparison to age matched group of patients without NAFLD.

CONCLUSION: NAFLD patients have a high risk of cardiovascular diseases more than non NAFLD.