Liver Health in Diabetes
Friday, June 21, at 5:30 p.m. ET
Room W320 (Chapin Theater)
Orange County Convention Center
(Livestream Available)
Team-Based Care
Kenneth Cusi, MD
Professor of Medicine,
University of Florida
What is your presentation about?
I am actually the Co-Chair of the symposium with Nuha El Sayed, MD, MMSci. Our presentation will summarize the year-long work in terms of liver health in diabetes by the ADA NAFLD Consensus group. The focus is on metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease or MASLD (formerly NAFLD) and the new ADA management recommendations to manage this disease that is reaching epidemic proportions. Please read the current ADA recommendations in Comprehensive Medical Evaluation and Assessment of Comorbidities: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2024 (Diabetes Care. 2024 Jan 1;47(Suppl 1):S52-S76. doi: 10.2337/dc24-S004). Also, a brief summary in Cusi K. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in diabetes: A call to action. Diabetes Spectrum. 2024;37:5-7 or Cusi K, Budd J, Johnson E, Shubrook J. Making Sense of the Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Clinical Practice Guidelines: What Clinicians Need to Know. Diabetes Spectr. 2024;37:29-38.
How do you hope your presentation will impact diabetes research or care?
We will be discussing relevant aspects of care for the physician and patient. This will include covering key aspects of the epidemiology of MASLD, role of diabetes and obesity management, guidance on nutrition and physical activity and exercise, and include recommendations for primary care.
How did you become involved with this area of diabetes research or care?
I started 20 years ago observing frequently people with type 2 diabetes having elevated liver enzymes and liver fat, as well as more often cirrhosis. There was complete unawareness, and we did a study with pioglitazone showing benefit (Belfort/Cusi et al, NEJM 2006). Since then I have been able to contribute to the inclusion of liver health and screening for MASLD in people with type 2 diabetes in endocrine, liver and ADA guidelines. This symposium will offer the latest recommendations developed by an interprofessional ADA consensus group of about 20 experts that has worked since 2023-present to this end.
Nutrition
Karen D. Corbin, PhD, RD
Associate Investigator,
AdventHealth Translational Research Institute
What is your presentation about?
My brief presentation is part of a symposium to discuss the impact of liver disease in people with type 2 diabetes. My presentation will highlight key nutritional concepts for improving metabolic targets and outcomes. These concepts will be preceded by a brief thought experiment about eliminating the “diet wars” that fuel confusion and misinformation.
How do you hope your presentation will impact diabetes research or care?
The overall symposium is intended to increase awareness about the importance of early detection of liver disease in people with type 2 diabetes. My talk specifically will highlight nutrition care concepts that will benefit patients that suffer from both liver disease and diabetes. In so doing, it will also open up conversations about how to innovate in this space to personalize diets based on biological variability.
How did you become involved with this area of diabetes research or care?
My research focus is at the intersection of nutrition, metabolism and multiple related cardiometabolic diseases. I became involved in this area of research because it is my ultimate goal to maximize the healing powers of nutrition. Achieving this requires research aimed at the design, testing and implementation of precision nutrition strategies that are poised to have maximal efficacy for health outcomes.