Doctors may soon be able to spot fatty liver disease long before it causes any health problems. A new study shows that a simple blood test can predict your risk of this disease up to 16 years before symptoms appear. The test looks for five special proteins in the blood. Researchers say it was 84 per cent accurate in spotting who would get fatty liver disease within five years, and 76 per cent accurate for predictions made 16 years ahead. The study will be presented at the Digestive Diseases Week meeting in San Diego.

"People often find out they have liver disease only after they start having symptoms,” said Dr. Shiyi Yu, the lead researcher from Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital in China. “We need better tools to catch it early, and this blood test could help.”

Fatty liver disease, also known as MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease), happens when fat builds up in the liver. Over time, this can lead to inflammation, scarring, liver damage, and even liver failure. People with this condition are twice as likely to die early compared to those without it.

For the study, researchers looked at blood samples from more than 50,000 people in the UK Biobank, a major health research project in the UK. Out of more than 2,700 proteins, they found five that act as early warning signs of fatty liver disease.

When they added other health factors like body weight and exercise habits, the test became even more accurate—over 90 per cent for five-year predictions and 82 per cent for 16-year predictions.

The same results were seen in a separate group of people in China, showing that the test works well for different populations.

Dr Yu will present the study on May 4. However, these results are still early and need to be confirmed in more research before the test becomes widely available.

Signs of Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease often has no symptoms in the early stages. But as it gets worse, people may notice:

Catching fatty liver disease early means people can make lifestyle changes—like eating better, exercising more, and losing weight—to slow or even reverse the damage.

This new test could help doctors find the disease before it becomes serious, giving people a better chance at staying healthy.

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