The silent killer affecting more than 5 million Australians

By MiNDFOOD

Female mid section being measure by doctor hand before liposuction over white background
Female mid section being measure by doctor hand before liposuction over white background
With COVID-19 taking all the attention, other illnesses are fading in to the background. How do you get people to care about a disease with no symptoms? That’s the challenge for doctors worried about non-alcoholic fatty liver disease which can lead to liver cancer and liver failure – often with little warning.

Back in 2018 Dr Alex Hodge of Melbourne’s Monash Medical Centre and University told MiNDFOOD “By 2020 more people will have liver cirrhosis caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFLD) than with hepatitis C and hepatitis B combined.”

This year there are over 5.5 million cases NALFLD and the Gastroenterological Society of Australia estimates that translates to more than 7 million Australians by 2030.

About 5% will have developed cirrhosis. “That’s 400,000 people with liver cirrhosis that could be avoided,” says Hodge.

According to a recent modelling study from the University of Western Australia that translates to 30,000 deaths over the next decade from NAFLD.

Recent research published by The Lancet on COVID-19 and the liver indicate how vital a healthy liver is for good health stating, “Clinicians cannot be complacent about the risks of COVID-19 in patients with chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis, because these patients have poor immune function and worse outcomes from acute respiratory distress syndrome than the rest of the critically ill population.”

What is fatty liver disease?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is an umbrella term for a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol. As the name implies, the main characteristic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is too much fat stored in liver cells.

The condition is also closely linked to metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of abnormalities including increased abdominal fat, poor ability to use the hormone insulin, high blood pressure and high blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease usually causes no signs and symptoms. When it does, they may include: Enlarged liver, fatigue and pain in the upper right abdomen.

Experts don’t know exactly why some people accumulate fat in the liver while others do not. Similarly, there is limited understanding of why some fatty livers develop inflammation that progresses to cirrhosis.

However, experts do know the disease is linked to being overweight or obese, having insulin resistance, high blood sugar and a high level of fats in the blood.

They also have a threefold risk of type 2 diabetes and double the risk of heart disease.

How to beat the disease

Losing weight around the middle and eating healthier food is the only way to reverse or reduce it, Hodge says.

His research found evidence that fasting might improve fatty liver disease. A study of patients at Monash Medical Centre found that restricting eating (but not kilojoules) to just an eight-hour period between noon and 8pm improved markers of fatty liver disease and reduced abdominal fat.

Dr Sandra Cabot says other things you can do to help reverse a fatty liver include, avoiding sugar, increasing the amount of raw plant food in your diet, eating protein with every meal and avoiding huge meals.

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