This is just another reason to have your Vitamin D levels checked:
MON., APR. 14, 2014: JUST-RELEASED NATURAL HEALTH STUDY: LOW VITAMIN D LINKED TO FATTY LIVER DISEASE: A study has clarified a link between low vitamin D status and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in research on children and has identified a genetic variant associated with disease severity. The investigators retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 120 pediatric patients with NAFLD, cases of which have been increasing substantially among children throughout the western world. (NAFLD is a fat buildup in liver cells in people who do not drink alcohol excessively, rapidly becoming the most common liver disease. It affects 10 percent of children, and 20-30 percent of the overall population. Identifying a gene that impacts the disease could lead to development of new treatments or diagnostic techniques.) Patients were found to have low vitamin D blood levels throughout the entire year, not just in the winter months, plus the majority of samples were found to be deficient or insufficient in vitamin D status compared to national health standards. The study also detected a variant of the NADSYN1 gene, which was associated with NAFLD severity in patients. This report was presented April 13, 2014 at the International Liver Congress 2014 in London. It has not yet been published or posted.