Prognosis
The average progression rate from one stage of liver fibrosis to the next in humans with NASH is estimated to be seven years, compared to 14 years with NAFLD. The course of progression varies with different clinical manifestations among individuals. Fibrosis in humans with NASH progressed more rapidly than in humans with NAFLD. Obesity predicts a worse long-term outcome than for lean individuals. In the Asia-Pacific region, about 25% of NAFLD cases progress to NASH under three years, but only a low proportion (3.7%) develop advanced liver fibrosis. An international study showed that people with NAFLD had a 10-year survival rate of 81.5%.NAFLD is a risk factor for fibrosis, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes based on very-low to low-quality evidence from observational studies. Although NAFLD can cause cirrhosis and liver failure and liver cancer, most deaths among people with NAFLD are attributable to cardiovascular disease. According to a meta-analysis of 34,000 people with NAFLD over seven years, these individuals have a 65% increased risk of developing fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular events when compared to those without NAFLD.NAFLD and NASH increase the risk of liver cancer. Cirrhosis and liver cancer induced by NAFLD were the second cause of liver transplantation in the US in 2017. Liver cancer develops in NASH in the absence of cirrhosis in 45% in the cases, and people with NASH cirrhosis have an increased risk of liver cancer.
Together, these enclose the vertebral foramen, which contains the spinal cord. Because the spinal cord ends in the lumbar spine, and the sacrum and coccyx are fused, they do not contain a central foramen. The vertebral arch is formed by a pair of pedicles and a pair of laminae, and supports seven processes, four articular, two transverse, and one spinous, the latter also being known as the neural spine. Two transverse processes and one spinous process are posterior to (behind) the vertebral body. The spinous process comes out the back, one transverse process comes out the left, and one on the right. The spinous processes of the cervical and lumbar regions can be felt through the skin. Above and below each vertebra are joints called facet joints. These restrict the range of movement possible, and are joined by a thin portion of the neural arch called the pars interarticularis. In between each pair of vertebrae are two small holes called intervertebral foramina. The spinal nerves leave the spinal cord through these holes. Individual vertebrae are named according to their region and position. From top to bottom, the vertebrae are:

Cervical spine: 7 vertebrae (C1–C7)
Thoracic spine: 12 vertebrae (T1–T12)
Lumbar spine: 5 vertebrae (L1–L5)
Sacrum: 5 (fused) vertebrae (S1–S5)
Coccyx: 4 (3–5) (fused) vertebrae (Tailbone)The combined region of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae is known as the thoracolumbar division, or region. Shape
The vertebral column is curved in several places, a result of human bipedal evolution.