Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasingly recognized public health problem, affecting up to a quarter of the world's adult population. The burden of NAFLD is influenced by the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the prevalence of these conditions is not expected to decrease in the forthcoming decades. Consequently, the burden of NAFLD-related liver complications (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis [NASH], cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) and the need for life-saving liver transplantation are also expected to increase further in the near future. A large body of clinical evidence indicates that NAFLD is associated not only with increased liver-related morbidity and mortality, but also with an increased risk of developing other important extra-hepatic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (that is the predominant cause of death in patients with NAFLD), extra-hepatic cancers (mainly colorectal cancers), T2DM and chronic kidney disease. Thus, NAFLD creates a considerable health and economic burden worldwide and often results in poor quality of life. This narrative review provides an overview of the current literature on main complications, morbidity and mortality of this common and burdensome liver disease.

中文翻译：

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非酒精性脂肪肝的并发症，发病率和死亡率。

非酒精性脂肪肝疾病（NAFLD）是一个日益得到认可的公共卫生问题，影响了全世界四分之一的成年人口。肥胖和2型糖尿病（T2DM）的流行影响着NAFLD的负担，预计在未来几十年中，这些疾病的患病率不会降低。因此，在不久的将来，与NAFLD相关的肝并发症（非酒精性脂肪性肝炎[NASH]，肝硬化和肝细胞癌）的负担以及挽救生命的肝移植的需求也有望进一步增加。大量临床证据表明，NAFLD不仅与肝脏相关的发病率和死亡率增加有关，而且与发展其他重要的肝外疾病的风险增加有关，例如心血管疾病（这是NAFLD患者的主要死亡原因），肝外癌症（主要是结肠直肠癌），T2DM和慢性肾脏病。因此，NAFLD在全世界造成相当大的健康和经济负担，并经常导致不良的生活质量。这篇叙述性综述提供了有关该常见和沉重肝病的主要并发症，发病率和死亡率的最新文献的概述。