MetALD is a new category of steatotic liver disease, or SLD (formerly known as fatty liver disease) that describes people who meet the criteria for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, (formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) but also consume significant amounts of alcohol regularly.
A person with MetALD:
- Has an excess of fat in the liver – more than 5 to 10 percent
- Consumes more than 140 g of alcohol per week if female (10+ drinks a week)
- Consumes more than 210 g of alcohol per week if male (15+ drinks a week)
- Has at least one of five cardiometabolic risk factors – obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglyceride, or high blood glucose levels (diabetes/prediabetes)
MetALD is a spectrum. Some cases of MetALD might act very similar to MASLD, while other cases may share more in common with alcohol-associated liver disease, or ALD.
Some people with MetALD go on to develop metabolic disfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, (formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH), which damages the liver. MetALD also increases a person’s risk of developing heart disease, liver cancer, and cirrhosis (permanent scarring of the liver) in the future.