In the 02/25/25 article “MASH Drives Increasing Global Incidence of Cirrhosis, Chronic Liver Diseases” in HCP Live, the conclusion is that focused efforts targeted at the metabolic risk factors to curb the rising incidence of MASH, increasing linkage to care for viral hepatitis and reducing heavy alcohol consumption are essential to propel a reduction in the global burden of cirrhosis.
From the article:
“Although death rates from cirrhosis are declining, the overall incidence has increased, driven by growth in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), according to findings from a recent study.1Leveraging data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, investigators found an 18% increase in incident cases, a 7% increase in deaths, and a 1% increase in DALYs attributable to cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases between 2010 and 2021. Of note, MASH had the greatest number of incident cases and age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of the etiologies examined in the study.
Cirrhosis and chronic liver disease represent major global health concerns due to their rank among the top leading causes of death in many regions of the world. They are primarily caused by hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease, and MASH, but the epidemiology of the causes of liver diseases has undergone drastic changes in recent years.
“Changes in the underlying causes of liver disease have led to a corresponding shift in the landscape of cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases,” Daniel Huang, MBBS, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore and a transplant hepatologist at the National University Hospital, and colleagues wrote.”