The liver is the neglected organ in diabetes, researchers warn, after finding adults with the condition are at a significantly higher risk of long-term serious liver disease than the general population.
The 13-year study of more than 400,000 adults with newly diagnosed diabetes found they were 77% more likely to develop cirrhosis, liver failure or require a liver transplant than controls.
"Existing guidelines do not advocate screening for liver-related complications among persons with diabetes, making the liver a potentially neglected target organ," researchers wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (online).
Diabetic hepatopathy was less common than diabetic retinopathy or diabetes-related end-stage renal disease, they noted. But when the liver failed, there was no equivalent form of management, such as...
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