Non-alcoholic fatty liver cases on rise, doctors blame lifestyle & obesity

Kolkata: Non-alcoholic fatty liver has become a concern for health issues as fatty liver starts outnumbering other causes for liver diseases over the years. Experts in liver diseases said if not corrected on time non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) can progress to more advanced stage called NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) and then to cirrhosis of liver and even cancer.

Doctors blamed urbanised lifestyle and obesity as the reason for developing fatty liver. About 20% of people in the city who undergo USG are found to have fatty liver. And doctors said nipping this condition at the buds is important for which one does not necessarily run to the doctor’s chamber. All that one needs to do is shed weight and modify diet before one starts developing complications.

“There is a sea change in the profile of patients suffering from liver diseases. Even about a decade and half ago the leading cause for liver diseases would be hepatitis B and C along with alcohol. Now NAFLD is gradually outnumbering other causes of liver diseases,” said IPGMER hepatology professor Abhjit Chowdhury of Liver Foundation West Bengal (LFWB).

Chowdhury said some as young as those in their 20s are developing NAFL due to increasing number of childhood obesity. On Thursday as part of the International NASH Day many doctors and health activists hit the road riding bicycles to remind people the importance of outdoor physical activities to keep fatty liver at bay in a cycle rally organised by LFWB, Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS), Global Liver Institute.

“Non-alcoholic fatty liver is completely reversible with lifestyle modification by getting into regular physical exercise and diet control where people need reduction in carb and fat intake and include more protein. Allowing the fatty liver to build means inviting more severe trouble including NASH, advanced cirrhosis of liver and then gradually end stage liver failure in many patients,” cautioned IILDS hepatologist Dipankar Mondal.

The rally from IILDS’s Sonarpur campus to Sonarpur Sporting Union was supported by Baruipur District Police.