Did You Know Chronic Liver Disease Can Be The Leading Cause Of Death Over The Next Century?
The liver being one of the most vital organs, and handling a lot of body functions, can be, most of the time targeted as commonly as the heart.
Although the liver has many functions the most important functions are metabolic homeostasis and detoxification.
The world we live in today has many downfalls, especially related to our lifestyle involving a sedentary way of living and malnutrition.
The incidence of the most common type of chronic liver disease is expected to rise steadily over the next half-century.
This acceleration will put significant pressure on healthcare systems, with projections predicting a near-doubling of liver cancer prevalence and a nearly tripling requirement for liver transplants by 2050.
These outcomes are part of the research recently presented at The Liver Meeting hosted by the American Association for the Research and Study of Liver Conditions.
Increasing obesity and diabetes rates are being blamed for the expected rise in the number of cases of the disease now referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatosis liver disease, or MASLD — an acronym recently revised by medical organizations around the globe to mitigate the stigma associated with the prior name,
nonalcoholic fatty liver syndrome, and to better describe the prevalent manifestations of the condition, which impacts more than 30% of the world’s population.
Such incidence of chronic liver disease can lead to liver cirrhosis and eventually organ failure.
What is the solution for cirrhosis? (Chronic Liver Disease)
Taking preventive measures for chronic liver disease should be the priority of each of us, but if unfortunate, anyone diagnosed with chronic liver disorders can reverse the modifiable factors of diet, exercise, drinking habits, and stress management.
And if none of these are helping then a liver transplant is always “The Option”.
Although the liver is the silent killer as the symptoms only appear when it is most commonly too bad, It is the only organ that can grow into its normal size when transplanted and so that makes liver transplant a successful procedure.
The trend of liver transplant
Early detection and timely treatment can save a person a lot of money and time, as organ transplants are surely very expensive. However, the trend of transplants is gaining commonality in the USA.
According to Phuc Le, Ph.D., MPH, an assistant professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, MASLD is expected to become the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States due to rising diabetes and obesity rates.
Le developed a numerical model to predict annual population trends and the prevalence of MASLD.
Hepatitis C is now the most common cause of liver disease, behind cirrhosis caused by excessive alcohol intake.
This article is fact-checked by: “Projection of the Clinical Burden of NAFLD (MASLD) in US Adults from 2020-2050: A Modeling Study,” by Phuc Le, 11 November 2023, The Liver Meeting: abstract 2245-A.