150 global health experts raise alarm about NASH – a silent killer

Some 150 global liver and metabolic disease experts including Bangladesh’s Prof Mamum Al Mahtab have issued a call to action against a liver disease that they say appears to be a “silent killer”

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 13 June 2018, 07:11 PM
Updated : 13 June 2018, 07:11 PM

The nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an asymptomatic silent disease, is emerging into a public health crisis and is expected to become the number one reason for patients needing liver transplant in the US by 2020.

The NASH Education Program - established to address unmet information needs related to this little known chronic liver disease - publishes the letter of experts on behalf of the experts in preparation for the first International NASH Day, which took place on Tuesday.

Prof Mahtab said they also organised an awareness-raising event on the day in Dhaka in the presence of doctors, media and general people at Dhaka Club.

NASH, according to him, is a severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease which is already affecting a quarter of the global population.

It can lead to liver cancer.

NASH is also under-diagnosed because it is difficult to detect due to the lack of a simple, accurate and cost-effective diagnostic solution.

Those patients must fight through stigmas and misconceptions associated with the disease.

They also lack access to easy-to-digest information to help them explain their condition to relatives, friend and colleagues who often have trouble understanding its nature and consequences.

Apart from a few international experts, the medical community - including diabetologists, endocrinologists, obesity specialists, cardiologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, general practitioners and nurses - remains largely under-informed, with limited opportunities to learn about the disease and limited relevant educational resources, according to the letter of the experts.