Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Implications for Older Adults with Diabetes

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is common in older patients with type 2 diabetes. In older patients with type 2 diabetes, the presence of NAFLD is associated with a higher risk of hepatic (eg, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma) and extrahepatic (eg, cardiovascular disease, sarcopenia, and dementia) complications than that observed in other patient groups. For this reason, appropriate identification and management of NAFLD are clinically relevant particularly in the group of older patients with type 2 diabetes. In this regard, clinicians should consider the peculiar characteristics of elderly patients, such as frailty, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy.