Author information
1
Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
2
St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India.
3
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, United States.
4
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, United States. Electronic address: Kamath.patrick@mayo.edu.
Abstract
Liver disease accounts for approximately 2 million deaths per year worldwide, one million due to complications of cirrhosis and one million due to viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cirrhosis is currently the 11th most common cause of death globally and liver cancer is the 16th leading cause of death; combined, they account for 3.5% of all deaths worldwide. Cirrhosis is within the top 20 causes of disability-adjusted life years and years of life lost and account for 1.6% and 2.1% of worldwide burden. About 2 billion people consume alcohol worldwide and upwards of 75 million are diagnosed with alcohol use disorders and are at risk for alcohol associated liver disease. Approximately 2 billion adults are obese or overweight and over 400 million have diabetes; both serve as risk factors for the increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as well as hepatocellular carcinoma. The global prevalence of hepatitis B (3.5%) and hepatitis C (1%) is high. Drug induced liver injury continues to increase as a major cause of acute hepatitis. Liver transplantation is the second most common solid organ transplantation after kidney transplantation worldwide. However, less than 10% of global needs of organ transplantation are met at current rates of transplantation. Though these numbers are sobering, they offer an important opportunity to improve public health given that most causes of liver diseases are preventable.