Since the initial descriptions in the early 1980s by Dr. Ludwig et al. and Drs. Schaffner and Thaler, who firstly coined the terms nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), this liver disease has become a global health problem worldwide, causing considerable liver-related and extra-hepatic morbidity and mortality. Based on pathophysiological insights gained from the past decades, it has been clearly established that NAFLD is a metabolic liver disease whose etiology and pathogenesis extends beyond the liver and that NAFLD has important clinical implications, especially in terms of an increased risk of developing both cardiovascular disease (which represents the leading cause of death in this patient population) and other extra-hepatic manifestations, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and some extra-hepatic cancers. The aim of this brief commentary is to discuss a recent review article written by Dr. Lonardo and colleagues, who raised awareness of the history of NAFLD. Since “What’s past is prologue”, I believe that this review article focusing on the history of NAFLD may contribute to better understanding the disease itself, as well as to anticipating the lines of the future clinical and pharmacological research of this common and burdensome liver disease.

中文翻译：

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过去是序幕：非酒精性脂肪肝病的历史

自从1980年代初期Ludwig等人的最初描述以来。和博士。Schaffner和Thaler首先创造了非酒精性脂肪性肝炎（NASH）和非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）术语，这种肝病已成为全球范围内的全球性健康问题，引起了与肝脏有关的和肝外疾病的高发病率和死亡率。根据过去几十年的病理生理学见识，已经明确地确定了NAFLD是一种代谢性肝病，其病因和发病机理已超出了肝脏，并且NAFLD具有重要的临床意义，尤其是在增加罹患两种心血管疾病的风险方面（代表该患者人群的主要死亡原因）和其他肝外表现，例如2型糖尿病，慢性肾脏疾病，和一些肝外癌症。这篇简短评论的目的是讨论Lonardo博士及其同事最近发表的一篇评论文章，这些文章提高了人们对NAFLD历史的认识。由于“过去是序幕”，我相信这篇侧重于NAFLD病史的综述文章可能有助于更好地了解疾病本身，并预测这种常见且负担重的肝病的未来临床和药理研究的方向。