Patients suffering from fatty liver and alcoholic liver disease are becoming more frequent. Experts warn that alcohol consumption in Spain is considered the most frequent cause of chronic liver disease.
The 83rd Congress of the Spanish Society of Digestive Pathology (SEPD) has devoted a significant amount of space and interest to liver health and pathologies. In this context, specialists have highlighted the impact of the two most prevalent liver diseases in our country and the Western world, metabolic – also known as fatty liver – and alcoholic liver, warning that their growth in recent years and the absence of symptoms until the final stages make them two “silent epidemics”.
Faced with this reality and the lack of effective pharmacological treatments , emphasis has been placed on the need to promote “healthy” measures to combat them: losing weight, exercising, a healthy diet and reducing alcohol consumption, among others.
According to María Casado , president of the Spanish Digestive System Foundation (FEAD), ” fatty liver is strongly associated with overweight and diabetes and its incidence has been increasing dramatically in recent years. In fact, it currently affects a quarter of the Spanish population and is expected to increase.”
But there is even more compelling data: “One of the most alarming aspects is that it is increasing in childhood , so that between 30 and 80% of the overweight pediatric population suffers from fatty liver .” Casado has highlighted that, according to hepatologists , it is a “silent epidemic” because it is very common, it is increasing and ” it does not give symptoms until very advanced stages .”
What are the keys to this rise? For the expert, the disease is linked to unhealthy lifestyle habits , which include a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet (rich in fat and abuse of fast food) and the increase in this lifestyle is causing its greatest impact. But precisely the fact that these factors are “approachable” is a reason for optimism for the experts. ” It is a disease that can be prevented in such a simple way through the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits in the population,” Casado commented .
For this reason, this year the FEAD has launched the campaign A healthy life for a healthy liver , focused on transmitting information and raising awareness among the general population about what fatty liver is , what its consequences are for health and how to avoid it, banishing a sedentary lifestyle and opting for a healthy or Mediterranean diet.
The expert has insisted that the approach is focused on trying to avoid the factors associated with fatty liver (overweight, obesity and diabetes), since currently, although there are many lines of research and development and clinical trials, “there is no pharmacological treatment authorized in Europe for its treatment.” In her opinion, ” it will take years before we have a drug available to stop the progression or improve the prognosis of this disease.”
However, positive steps have already been taken in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis , a type of fatty liver that can progress to cirrhosis and the need for a transplant. In fact, Casado pointed out, “drugs have been developed that reduce inflammation and fibrosis in these patients and one of them has just been approved in the United States” – it is resmetirom , whose commercial name in the US is Rezdiffra .
ALCOHOL-RELATED LIVER DISEASE
The specialist has put forward another fact that is as compelling as it is alarming : 6% of the Spanish population has an alcohol consumption disorder, with a higher incidence in the male population. Of these, 20% will develop an alcohol-related liver disease, which “silently” will progress to terminal liver disease or cirrhosis of the liver – alcohol consumption is responsible for 70% of cases of cirrhosis in men and more than 50% in women. In addition, this disease will be responsible for the death of one in eight men and one in twelve women who suffer from it.
Regarding the approach to the problem, Casado said: ” At FEAD we want to inform and raise awareness among the population that pathological or harmful alcohol consumption can lead to terminal liver disease. And with this we aim to promote the healthy habit of limiting alcohol consumption.”
Once the disease is established, there is only one treatment: abstinence. “ The liver is very grateful and if, before reaching the final or terminal stages, a patient with this disease stops drinking, within three months the organ can return to normal.” Again, the recommendations focus on “reducing alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and losing weight.”
Regarding what is “tolerable” consumption, Casado has firstly emphasised that ” the safest alcohol consumption is zero “. To visualise where the “danger” begins, he has remarked that specialists “measure this consumption in average units – for example, a glass of wine or a beer. And when it is higher, and sustained over time, than two units of measurement/day for women and four for men, it is already considered harmful in the long term”.
Link: https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/06/18/667002f5e9cf4a1a528b45a6.html
Author: Enrique Mezquita Valencia
Date: Updated Tuesday, June 18, 2024 – 16:59
Source: The World
Note: Nutrigenomics Institute is not responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
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