How to avoid unexpectedly ending up on the liver transplant list
Financial experts are calling it one of the last “untapped multi-billion dollar therapeutic areas.”
Sounds great if you’re talking about your stock portfolio. Not so great if you don’t want to be on the liver transplant list.
This hot topic is NASH, the acronym that spells out a stealth liver disease that doctors are saying is “quietly reaching epidemic proportions” — nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
And don’t think if you’re not familiar with it that means you’re in the clear. Most people with this disease have no idea they’re at risk until they end up in the hospital fighting for their lives.
But despite the fact that there’s no real treatment for NASH (that is, aside from a liver transplant), there is an easy way to prevent it in the first place.
And it’s something you’ll want to put into effect immediately before it’s too late, especially where your kids and grandkids are concerned.
By the time people find out they have NASH, their liver is already in big trouble.
Wayne Eskridge’s story is typical. The then 68-year-old Idaho man thought he was in pretty good shape when he had gall bladder surgery six years ago.
But the surgeon didn’t like the way his liver looked — and after blood tests and two biopsies, the diagnosis of NASH was made. He had in effect cirrhosis of the liver, and the only treatment would be a liver transplant.
“I was dumbfounded,” said Eskridge, “I had no clue.”
And that’s how it goes with NASH. People who appear to be healthy, don’t drink excessively and don’t have a history of hepatitis C or other liver diseases are blindsided by a NASH diagnosis.
But even more common than NASH is its predecessor NAFLD, which stands for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. It’s a slow-moving condition that has nothing to do with alcohol, but a lot to do with other things that you eat and drink (more on that in a minute).
The CDC says that 80 million Americans have NAFLD right now. And that could mean that around three million may very well progress into the deadlier NASH.
And that’s why Big Pharma is moving “full steam ahead” in trying to come up for a drug that, if approved, will bring in the billions.
But what should be even a hotter topic is how to steer clear of both conditions in the first place.
You see, to study what drugs might work researchers first have to give lab rats fatty livers. And that’s done by feeding them a diet high in fructose and trans fats.
It’s the perfect recipe for fatty liver disease — high fructose corn syrup, fructose and partially hydrogenated oils. Things you’ll find in drinks like soda, tea and even fruit beverages — as well as in everyday foods like bread, ketchup, cereals and salad dressings.
And trans fats are found in numerous bakery items and processed foods.
So here’s what you need to do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe:
- HFCS isn’t just in soda! All sorts of foods and drinks contain this laboratory sweetener. Read labels and put back anything that contains it.
- Also ditch anything containing fructose, fruit sugar and crystalline fructose. These are typically just disguised names for very potent versions of HFCS.
- Check labels for partially hydrogenated oils. The FDA has recently banned its use in food, but it will take years for that to fully go into effect.
The only kind of fructose you want is the natural kind found in apples, peaches and pears — in other words, real fruit. The fiber slows its absorption and allows it to be digested in a different and healthy way.
Sources:
“As a stealthy liver disease becomes more common, the search for treatments accelerates” Allison Bond, October 6, 2016, STAT, statnews.com
