READER’S DIGESTno public health policies in Europe
prescribe an annual liver health
check, so unless patients complain,
doctors don’t routinely screen for
liver disease.
“You can have [liver disease] for
many years and not know it—often
there are no symptoms until the
liver breaks down,” says Dr Tom
Hemming Karlsen, PhD, at the
University of Oslo who serves as
secretary general for the European
Association for the Study of the Liver.
When that happens, your body falls
apart quickly because without the
liver, other organs can’t function.
People often underestimate how
important this organ is. “The liver
is a master regulator,” notes Dr
Rajiv Jalan, PhD, a hepatologist at
University College London.
It supplies bile to break down fat
during digestion and stores energy,
releasing it as glucose. It produces
proteins involved in metabolism
and blood coagulation. It acts as a
“cleaning plant” which filters out
toxins; and regulates the immune
function, separating and removing
bacteria from the bloodstream.
Overall, the liver performs more than
500 different tasks—a feat that’s hard
to replicate.
That’s why medics have no
replacements for failing livers. Dr
Jalan’s team is working on creating
a bioartifical liver device called
DIALIVE, but it’s not yet available.
And while maladies such as stroke
afflict people over 65, failed livers
tend to kill at a younger age.
Another culprit is glucose-fructose
syrup, a common sweetener found
in processed foods including
many cereals, snacks and juices.
Unlike fruits, which contain limited
amounts of fructose and thus are
metabolised slowly, glucose-fructose
syrup “puts more sugar much more
quickly into your system,” says Dr
Barnabas—so the liver regularly
stores it as fat.
Lasse Berget was duly concerned
about his diagnosis. While
NAFLD is not immediately life
threatening, over time it can
progress into a disease called
non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis
or NASH, which can cause liver
failure and death. Because of liver
cell deterioration, NAFLD can also
lead to hepatocellular carcinoma, a
common liver cancer. There’s no set
time it takes for NAFLD to develop
into NASH and further into cirrhosis,
and many people with NAFLD never
do develop cirrhosis. When they
do, a transplant is the only cure—
and the number of NASH-relatedJULY 2019 • 41UNLIKE MANY OTHER
ORGANS, THE LIVER
HAS THE ABILITY TO
REGENERATE ITSELF