Fatty liver disease that is left untreated and eventually leading to cirrhosis was increasingly becoming an important reason for people needing a liver transplantation, said doctors who spoke at the webinar organised by The Hindu as part of its Wellness Series on Sunday.
In the webinar organised in collaboration with Naruvi Hospitals on the liver transplantation, Ashok Chacko, head of department, chair, Division of Medicine at the hospital, said fatty liver was becoming common among the Indian population due to lifestyle changes.
He said one in every five persons diagnosed with fatty liver was likely to develop severe damage of the liver over a period of 20 years. He said that once liver failure became untreatable through medicines, transplantation was the only recourse.
He said that though roughly 1,000 to 1,500 liver transplants were done in India every year. There were still around 30,000 people on the waiting list for transplantation. He stressed on the need for more people to come forward and pledge for cadaveric organ donation.
Sandeep Satsangi, lead consultant hepatologist and liver transplant physician, Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru, highlighted the need for undergoing screening for liver diseases if a person had any of the high risk factors such as consumption of alcohol, fatty liver or Hepatitis B infection.
He said there was a common misconception that only people with heavy alcohol consumption faced liver damage. “However, fatty liver is increasingly becoming a major reason for liver failure,” he said. He said it was important to undergo liver transplant at the right stage before the damage to the liver started affecting other organs.
Sanjay Govil, senior consultant, comprehensive liver care, hepato pancreato biliary and multi organ transplantation, Naruvi Hospitals, spoke on the advancements in transplant surgeries in the past two decades.