UoH study: 84% of Indian techies suffer fatty liver disease due to sedentary work, stress

Hyderabad: Did you know that the longer you spend on your chair without moving, the more you are putting yourself at risk of several non-communicable diseases including fatty liver disease called Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD)?

A major study conducted by an expert team at the University of Hyderabad has found that 84 per cent of IT employees have MAFLD.

Why do techies lead an unhealthy life?

The issue is a modern one—working long hours at the desk, inadequate sleep and stress from unreasonable deadlines, and an unhealthy diet involving a high-calorie diet and sweetened beverages, and the ones who are most affected by it are IT employees.

The Information Technology (IT) sector is one of the leading drivers of the Indian economy, employing over 5.4 million people and a sedentary lifestyle is a hallmark of techies globally.

The study was conducted by UoH scientists Prof Kalyankar Mahadev and Prof CT Anitha along with their research scholars, Bharam Bhargava and Nanditha Pramod, in collaboration with senior hepatologist Dr PN Rao and his team from the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) hospital. They also found that 71 per cent of IT employees were obese and about 34 per cent had metabolic syndrome, a cluster of diseased conditions that increase the risk of fatty liver, obesity, diabetes and increased blood pressure.

What is MAFLD?

Fatty liver is a health crisis which occurs when more than 5 per cent of fat builds up in the liver due to various behavioural and metabolic risk factors as highlighted earlier. The condition, if unchecked, can progress to severe forms of liver diseases like cirrhosis and cancer requiring liver transplantation.

How to avoid MAFLD?

Realising the health risks associated with the IT sector employees, it is of paramount importance to devise strategies that translate for the better health of their workforce.

Although most of the major IT companies have an in-built health wellness program, their employees should take advantage and adhere to the existing programs for their physical well-being. Regular and periodic health check-ups and screening for fatty liver along with proper work-life balance and stress management programs may reduce the incidence of fatty liver.

This study was funded by the Institution of Eminence (IoE) Program of the Ministry of Education, Government of India and the research work has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, Scientific Reports by Nature publishers.