[Created using Gemini]
[Created using Gemini]

Fatty liver disease, long considered a condition of middle age, is spreading to people in their 20s and 30s. Samsung Fire's latest analysis found that the prevalence of fatty liver among people in their 20s rose 1.5-fold over the past decade, while the rate among those in their 30s increased 1.2-fold.

Samsung Fire released the findings Monday in its "liver disease analysis report" ahead of World Hepatitis Day on Tuesday. Liver disease refers to inflammation, damage or functional decline of the liver, with fatty liver, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer among the most common conditions.

Samsung Fire drew on its integrated health information platform — an internal health database — for the analysis. A Samsung Fire official said the report took a comprehensive look at the treatment journey and changes in medical costs for chronic liver diseases, including fatty liver, based on health data accumulated over more than 10 years since 2015.

According to the analysis, liver disease deaths in 2024 totaled 7,787, moving up two spots (from 11th to 9th) in the national mortality rankings from the previous year. Including liver cancer deaths (10,432), about 18,000 people died from liver-related diseases — the fifth-leading cause of death after cancer, heart disease, pneumonia and cerebrovascular disease. People in their 30s to 50s accounted for a particularly large share.

The rise in fatty liver cases has been especially pronounced in recent years. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease grew from about 25,000 in 2014 to about 138,000 in 2024 — roughly a 5.5-fold increase. Samsung Fire's health database also showed that customers who received indemnity insurance payouts for fatty liver-related conditions rose from about 12,000 in 2015 to about 23,000 in 2025, roughly doubling over the period.

The condition is also shifting from older adults to younger age groups. Samsung Fire's analysis found that the prevalence of fatty liver among people in their 20s rose from 148 to 216 per 100,000 people over 10 years — about 1.5 times — while the rate among those in their 30s climbed from 355 to 443 per 100,000, an increase of more than 1.2 times. Half of fatty liver patients also had hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol, indicating a close link between fatty liver and metabolic disease.

Early management of fatty liver is critical, but most patients show no symptoms, meaning many miss the window for timely treatment, Samsung Fire said.

According to the KDCA, 79.9 percent of fatty liver patients were diagnosed incidentally during routine health checkups. Of those, only 57.7 percent went on to seek treatment at a medical institution. In a 10-year follow-up of 11,193 customers diagnosed with fatty liver, Samsung Fire found that 4 percent progressed to liver cirrhosis and 1.5 percent developed liver cancer. Patients with diabetes showed a cirrhosis progression rate of 5.2 percent within 10 years, 1.3 percentage points higher than the 3.9 percent rate among patients without chronic disease.

Medical costs rose sharply as the disease advanced. At the chronic viral hepatitis stage, costs remained relatively low, centered on antiviral treatment and regular checkups, but progression to cirrhosis pushed per-patient medical costs to about 3.9 times higher, while liver cancer pushed them to about 7.3 times higher.

After cirrhosis, the risk of further complications and liver cancer was also significant. Of 960 customers diagnosed with cirrhosis in 2015, 10.1 percent later developed liver cancer. About 30 percent experienced complications including ascites (21.1 percent), gastroesophageal varices (11.1 percent), peritonitis (3.5 percent), hepatic encephalopathy (2.7 percent) and hepatorenal syndrome (2.4 percent). Patients who developed complications showed higher mortality risk and intensive care unit utilization, along with significantly greater medical costs.

Liver transplantation is performed when liver function reaches an irreversible stage. The analysis found that 11.1 percent of cirrhosis patients and 13.3 percent of those with cirrhosis accompanied by liver cancer underwent liver transplants. Transplantation involves not only surgery but also pre-transplant testing, intensive care, immunosuppressant therapy and long-term follow-up, meaning the financial burden persists for an extended period.

Samsung Fire said weight management is key to preventing and improving fatty liver, noting that losing just 5 to 10 percent of body weight can produce meaningful improvement. New drugs for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) have recently produced a series of positive research results, and the role of drug therapy is expected to expand going forward. MASH is a progressive liver disease associated with metabolic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

"Given the clear rise in fatty liver among younger people, early detection and management of high-risk groups are more important than ever," Samsung Fire's Long-Term Future Value Research Institute said. "We will continue to analyze treatment trends and medical cost flows by disease to better understand our customers' coverage needs and contribute to healthier lives."


kimstar@heraldcorp.com