Fatty Liver Threat Tied to Obesity

New York Times: Fatty Liver Threat Tied to Obesity

by Dr. Joe Galati on 06/15/2014

The New York Times posted a great article by Anahad O’Connor, titled Threat Grows From Liver Illness Tied to Obesity. Click the link to read the full article. As a liver specialist, I see the effects of obesity daily, and the liver disease that results.

These are my thoughts on this:

Obesity is public enemy #1. Yes, cancer, heart disease, mental health concerns, and diabetes we are all familiar with. For the past decade, obesity has been tied to most of these conditions. I have patients that would rather continue the path of consuming processed foods, rather than make the decision to modify their diet. I have found that most adults, and especially those under 30 years old, have a limited range of cooking abilities-thus prepared foods are far more attractive to them, avoiding the need to cook a meal from scratch. The alternative to this non-change in behavior is a potentially slow and progressive slide towards more advanced liver disease, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and the need for transplant. What a choice: eat better and exercise, or get liver cancer? A 10% drop in body weight has been shown to slow the progression fat causes in the liver. Transplant is not the answer. Besides the massive healthcare cost, without a change in behavior, fatty liver will return in the transplanted liver within a year, and by 3 years, it may be as high as 50%. As a nation, we simply do not have the money to pay for all of this. The cancerous spread of fast food chains into every corner of your neighborhood needs to stop. In 10-15 years, we will have a generation of disabled citizens, riddled with diabetes, heart disease, and on dialysis. We will become a second-rate nation.

Look at this video we produced recently, which outlines some of the simple steps needed for better nutrition and health.

Added Bonus: Listen to my comments on Olive Garden