Fatty Liver: The Silent Killer That Can Affect Anyone
Fatty liver disease often develops without clear signs and can affect anyone, including those of productive age. Because it frequently causes no complaints in the early stages, experts call fatty liver a silent killer that must be watched out for.
Director of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control at the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the trend of non-communicable diseases continues to rise in Indonesia. One trigger is metabolic disorders that can lead to various chronic diseases, including liver disease.
“We focus on preventing non-communicable diseases, whose trend continues to increase. This disease does not occur instantly but through a long process, starting from having no risk factors to eventually becoming ill,” Nadia said on Thursday (11/6/2026) during a Global Fatty Liver Day 2026 discussion.
She explained that fatty liver is a condition that needs attention because it often develops silently without symptoms. The risk of this disease increases along with rising obesity rates in Indonesia. Based on the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey, the prevalence of obesity in adults reached 23.4 percent, while central obesity reached 36.8 percent.
Internal medicine specialist and consultant in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia-RSCM, Prof Rino Alvani Gani, explained that fatty liver occurs due to excessive fat accumulation in the liver, which then damages liver cells and disrupts various metabolic processes in the body. According to him, this condition does not arise from occasionally consuming fatty foods.
Fatty liver is more often triggered by unhealthy eating patterns that persist over time, overeating, and fat accumulation in the body.
“In the early stages, this disease usually does not cause symptoms, so many cases go undetected. That is why fatty liver is often called a silent killer,” said Rino.
Rino added that the impact of fatty liver is not limited to the liver. The disease is closely linked to diabetes, kidney disorders, the pancreas, and heart disease. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with fatty liver disease related to metabolic disorders, or Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD).
He revealed that about 80 percent of people with obesity experience fatty liver. However, this condition can also be found in 10 to 15 percent of people who are not overweight. Genetic factors, physical activity, gut microbiome conditions, and exposure to pollution also influence a person’s risk of developing fatty liver.
Therefore, the public is urged not to consider themselves safe just because they have a normal body weight. Fatty liver can also occur at a productive age, even from the age of 30. Children with obesity also need to be watched out for because they are at risk of developing liver disorders as teenagers or adults.