The number of fatty liver cases in India is increasing and around 35 per cent of people living in India are suffering from this problem, said Prof. (Dr.) Shiv Kumar Sarin, Padma Bhushan awardee, Head, Department of Hepatology & Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi. He shared this information during a webinar on ‘Managing Live Care’. The webinar was part of the ASSOCHAM’s ‘Illness to Wellness campaign. The objective of the campaign organised by ASSOCHAM, an apex industry body, is to cascade awareness and disseminate wisdom about how to take better care of the liver, reduce liver infections and eventually enhance liver health to lead a healthier happier and more prosperous life.
Dar Sarin also shared details about how the cases of fatty liver are linked to diabetes, kidney stones and rising heart disease rates.
He explained that when lipids accumulate in the liver, it limits its insulin capability, and to compensate, the pancreas organ produces insulin, which is insufficient to cope with regular biological processes. “As a result, the body undergoes insulin resistance, and a person develops pre-diabetic symptoms. He further continued those fats start to go into the bloodstream and get deposited in the arteries directing to the risks of heart stroke or heart attack. Ample evidence suggests that elevated Gamma-GT enzyme activity is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease,” Dr Sarin said.
Talking about the importance of the liver in the human body, Dr Rajesh Kesari, Founder, and Director of Total Care Control, Delhi–NCR, said that it liver is the chemical factory of our body and therefore it has to bear the brunt of our modern-day lifestyle. Dr Kesari said that the role of the liver in maintaining health is well known but this body organ has once again caught attention as the liver is unable to handle the excess fat which is there in our diet. This is becoming the reason for many diseases like diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, etc.
Dr Sakshi Karkra – Head–Pediatric, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Artemis Hospitals, Gurugram – performs more than 500 vital functions and thus it is one of the important organs in our body.
“It performs many functions like detoxification of drugs, resisting infections by making immune factors, converting poisonous ammonia to urea, processing hemoglobin, protein, cholesterol, and glycogen synthesis, regulating blood clotting, production of biochemicals necessary for digestion and excretion of bile which helps carry away waste products from the liver,” Dr Karkra.
She further continued that Liver disease refers to any damage or disorder that limits the function of the liver.
Sharing his viewpoint Dr Bhavin Bhupendra Vasavada, Surgical Gastroenterologist, Hepato Biliary and Liver Transplant Surgeon, Shalby Multi-Specialty Hospitals, said “Liver has great regenerative power and can fight with the diseases process until it is damaged beyond repair.”
