“We are seeing a terrifying increase”
Just like in the intestines, fat can also accumulate in the liver. More than 330,000 Aragonese suffer from so-called fatty liver disease.a disease associated with excess weight, obesity or a sedentary lifestyle, which is very difficult to detect due to the lack of symptoms, but which, if not detected in time, can lead to the development of more serious diseases such as fibrosis or liver cancer. The Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH) warns of a significant increase in cases and that “The worst is yet to come.”
They claim that there has been continued growth in recent years, which is far from reaching its ceiling and that it is due to sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition. In fact, the prevalence of this disease is already growing in all segments of the population, even among young people, where until recently it had not manifested itself.
Some experts explain that this increase in cases is also due to more cases of diabetes, more obese people and worse consumption habits. For example, they claim that drinking 2-3 types of beer or wine every day is harmful to the liver and can lead to this disease.
Fatty liver is a pathology associated with accumulation of fat in this organ. It is more common in people who are overweight or obese and is not always associated with alcohol. While it is true that young people’s consumption patterns don’t help either, for example, the consequences of binge drinking (drinking large amounts of alcohol over several hours) are very detrimental to liver health.
Dr. Vanesa Bernal, a hepatologist at the Miguel Servet Hospital, warns of the dangers that late detection of the disease can pose. “The main problem is that fatty liver does not cause symptoms, people don’t know they have it and they can end up getting sick. for more serious diseases such as fibrosis and even liver cancer,” says Bernal. In this sense, Vanesa, who also works in the hospital’s digestive system service, explains that “they tend to focus on prevention and early detection of liver diseases offered by screening in all people with risk factors.
Spontaneous screening in Zaragoza found three cases in 31 tests carried out.
During the celebration of Liver Week, which took place from 18 to 20 June in Aragon, the Rebolería Medical Centre in Zaragoza organised a screening for all those who wished to attend. “We performed 31 operations, three of which were diagnosed with fatty liver disease: Two of them had advanced fibrosis and one had cirrhosis, which means their livers were scarred and irreversibly damaged,” says Vanesa.
Some alarming data indicating that the invisibility of this disease. The president of the Association of Patients and Liver Transplantologists of Aragon, Javier Arredondo, assures that few people know that they have fatty liver, and those who know are “stigmatized.” “They’re hiding because they think it’s related to drinking and they don’t want people to know.” says Arredondo, who assures that after such growth rates Liver disease will be the “next pandemic.”
According to the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), more than 4,000 patients with hepatitis C have been treated in Aragon hospitals since 2013, and it is estimated that there are still patients in need of treatment. In Aragon consultations, Vanesa assures that in recent years there has been a “terrible increase”.
Although there is no treatment to remove fat from the liver, a hepatologist from Miguel Servet advises lifestyle changes. cut down on alcohol, eat right, exercise and take care of yourself. “Then, as belly fat goes down, so will liver fat,” he concludes. All this if it is not severely damaged, otherwise it would be necessary to resort to transplantation, which usually accounts for 5% of cases.