Is liver disease the next major lifestyle disease of India after diabetes and BP ?

By Admin | Monday, 28/02/2022

Earlier commonly caused by Hepatitis B and C, the most common causes of liver disease can now be called alcohol and other obesity related disorders. There has been a paradigm shift in the dynamics of liver cirrhosis and about 10 lakh new patients are diagnosed with it every year in India!

Having spoken about the same with Dr Amrish Sahney, Associate Consultant, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, here is the lowdown of the conversation with him. What Dr Amrish calls the need of the minute is awareness at the community at large because the next major health concern that the country can be battling is for its liver.

Some statistics

• Around 10 lakh patients of liver cirrhosis are newly diagnosed every year in India. - Liver disease is the tenth most common cause of death in India as per the World Health Organization.
• Liver disease may affect every one in 5 Indians.
• Liver Cirrhosis is the 14th leading cause of deaths in the world and could be the 12th leading cause of deaths in the world by 2020.
• Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or a cancer in the liver, is the second most common cause of death due to malignancy in the world.

Complications with liver cirrhosis

Once the patient is diagnosed as cirrhotic, there are very less chances of reversal of the disease, said Dr Amrish. Cirrhosis is associated with other complications such as ascites (fluid build-up in the abdominal cavity), hepatic encephalopathy, chances of variceal bleeding and other infections.

Acting against and controlling all these symptoms can mean a lot of cost expenditure for the patient. As per Dr Amrish, 75 per cent of the patients may not be able to afford this.

Once these complications begin, the maximum a patient can survive without a liver transplant is 2 to 3 years.