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Medical terminology can be hard to understand. Much of it is in Latin, some is in Greek, several words are named after people, and terminology can change. Sometimes that change is a good thing, though. In June 2023 a collaboration of hundreds of experts in liver disease released new names for the liver diseases previously known as Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).

Adapted from Rinella, M. E., et al., 2023

Under the broad category of Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD) we now have Metabolic dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), which can progress to Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) and Metabolic Alcohol-associated Liver Disease (MetALD, which is MASLD and increased alcohol intake). This change was made for many reasons. The terms “non-alcoholic” and “fatty” may have been confusing, stigmatizing, or inaccurate. People who are not overweight may still have the disease, and those with the disease may still be consuming alcohol. Finally, naming a disease after what it isn’t (“nonalcoholic…”) is less than ideal.

The new system describes the same symptoms but with more specific language. Steatosis is the accumulation of fat inside of cells and the disease is caused by changes in the metabolic system; how our cells change food into energy. A critical change has also been made with the adoption of the new term MetALD. MetALD describes people who have MASLD, but who still consume some alcohol. Alcohol affects the disease progression, but metabolic disruptions do as well. Hence, a term was developed to describe this overlap.

These terms were planned and adopted by an international group of clinical researchers, scientists, educators, industry experts, and patient advocates. The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), and Asociación Latinoamericana para el Estudio del Hígado (ALEH) made up most of the participants and have ensured widespread adoption of the new terminology

Staff Writer / Editor Benton Lowey-Ball, BS, BFA

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References:

Rinella, M. E., Lazarus, J. V., Ratziu, V., Francque, S. M., Sanyal, A. J., Kanwal, F., … & NAFLD Nomenclature consensus group. (2023). A multi-society Delphi consensus statement on new fatty liver disease nomenclature. Annals of Hepatology, 101133. https://doi.org/10.1097/HEP.0000000000000520