A new study found that those individuals with fatty liver were five times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those without fatty liver. This higher risk seemed to occur regardless of the patient's fasting insulin levels, which were used as a marker of insulin resistance.

    The study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) shows that fatty liver may be more than an indicator of obesity but may actually have an independent role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

    Sun Kim, MD, the senior author of the study and Colleagues of Stanford University in California examined 11,091 Koreans who had a medical evaluation including fasting insulin concentration and abdominal ultrasound at baseline and had a follow-up after five years. Regardless of baseline insulin concentration, individuals with fatty liver had significantly more metabolic abnormalities including higher glucose and triglyceride concentration and lower good cholesterol concentration. Individuals with fatty liver also had a significantly higher risk for type 2 diabetes in comparison to those without fatty liver.

    "Many patients and practitioners view fat in the liver as just ''fat in the liver,'' but we believe that a diagnosis of fatty liver should raise an alarm for impending type 2 diabetes," "In addition, our findings reveal a complex relationship between baseline fatty liver and fasting insulin concentration ", said senior author Sun Kim.