Epidemiological studies on the prevention and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty pancreatic disease

Nonalcoholic fatty pancreatic disease (NAFPD) has an incidence of 11.05% −69.7%. Owing to the lack of standardized screening tools, the prevalence of NAFPD widely varies among studies depending on the ethnic groups analyzed and the different diagnostic methods adopted. Obesity is a chronic disease attributable to multiple psychosocial factors, and its prevalence has reached epidemic proportions worldwide, showing doubling in the last 3 decades. Obesity is closely associated with conditions such as hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Diet and exercise are the central components of NAFPD prevention and treatment, whereas the progress in pharmacologic treatment has been lagging. Studies have demonstrated that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) can lower blood glucose, and also has effects of reducing body weight and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus, the role of GLP-1 in T2DM and NAFPD warrants further investigations.