An alarming number of Australians are walking time bombs, living with a disease dubbed the silent killer that is growing at epidemic proportions here and around the world writes Dr Ross Walker.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is diagnosed in people who drink little or no alcohol and is closely associated with diabetes and obesity − conditions of metabolic syndrome. If left untreated, the accumulation of fat in the liver can progress to a more severe form called NASH, or Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis.
That latest figures from the Gastroenterological Society of Australia show more than six million Australians, or over a quarter of the population, are now affected by liver disease. Many of these cases are older Australians living in retirement, but prevalence of the disease continues to climb across all age and socioeconomic groups.
Chronic liver disease claims more than 20 Australian lives every day − in excess of 7,000 deaths annually. To put it into context, the disease affects 40% of all adults aged 50 years and over.
Occasionally people with the condition may feel tired or generally unwell, however the degree of the symptoms does not equate to the severity of the disease. Some people may experience weight loss and pain in the upper right abdomen but more often than not, people with fatty liver have no idea something is wrong.
NASH has become known as the “silent” liver disease as many don’t realise they’re suffering from it because they have minimal to no symptoms until it’s too late. Blood tests can even show up normal.
The financial burden of liver disease is estimated to be $50.7 billion per annum, exceeding the costs of diabetes and chronic kidney disease combined.
There is no specific treatment for fatty liver but lifestyle changes make a difference. People can make changes to reverse fatty liver if it hasn’t developed into liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
This means that in the case of NASH, prevention offers the best hope of cure.
As we get older, the best defence against fatty liver requires a combination of healthy lifestyle habits and careful selection of natural supplements to guard against development of the disease.
It should be no surprise that a healthy lifestyle will include avoiding soft drinks and juices, exercising more, treating high cholesterol, quitting smoking and avoiding alcohol.
I also recommend to my all my patients over the age of 50 to take BergaMet Pro+, a natural supplement that contains the powerful antioxidants found in the Calabrian Bergamot Oranges that scientifically has been proven to directly inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis reducing the risk of fatty liver.
One such patient was radio personality David Prior, who was diagnosed with fatty liver at the age of 49 and was at high risk of developing diabetes.
He started taking BergaMet and within weeks starting losing weight around his middle. Without doing any extra exercise, his liver is now considered healthy and his doctors have called him a walking miracle.
Fatty liver is a killer, but preventative action can turn it around – which is pretty encouraging considering that in most cases, we’re talking about a choice between changing your lifestyle or at best, ending up on the waiting list for a liver transplant.
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