Do you have Type II Diabetes? Are you overweight?

The  National Institutes of Health has declared fatty liver the next healthcare crisis in America. It is estimated that 25% of the United States population, or close to 85 million people, unknowingly suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This entity is related to poor  diet, the obesity crisis in America, and the lack of exercise with an increasingly sedentary population. Fatty liver disease is now the most common reason for liver transplantation in the world, including in the United States, surpassing Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and alcoholic/hepatitis.

Approximately  15 to 20% of people with fatty liver will progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (non-alcoholic fatty liver) (NASH). NASH is defined as inflammation of the liver which subsequently progresses to fibrosis and end-stage liver disease with cirrhosis. When this occurs, death often ensues quickly thereafter. Fatty liver and NASH are clinically silent diseases. Typically, they are discovered on routine physical examination as a result of abnormally increased liver function tests. There is an increased incidence of fatty liver in diabetic patients, both Type I and  Type II Diabetes Mellitus. In addition, there is an increased progression of fatty liver disease to NASH in the Hispanic and Asian populations.

Up  to now, the only way to diagnose NASH was with a liver biopsy, an  invasive and potentially risky procedure which entails putting a large needle into the liver and obtaining core specimens of the liver. There  is now a new non-invasive MRI technique which allows for delineation of fat content within the liver, iron content within the liver, and the presence of inflammation and fibrosis within the liver. This new  sophisticated software platform is known as the LiverMultiScan ​Discover™.  It entails only a 15 minute non-contrast MRI of the abdomen, providing  clinical information which is unavailable through any other non-invasive manner. The only other way to obtain this clinical information is with an invasive and potentially dangerous liver biopsy.

Currently,  there is no cure for NASH. Once a patient is diagnosed with NASH,  increasing deterioration of liver function eventually leading to liver  failure and demise of the patient occurs. There are currently multiple  new drugs being tested in the research pipeline which offer the opportunity to halt the progression of NASH and allow the liver to actually regenerate itself into a normal organ. These drugs in the research pipeline have the potential to prevent liver failure, cirrhosis and death as a result of NASH.

At  NASH Health Initiative, we are harnessing the power of this new  non-contrast MRI examination to identify those patients who may be at  significant risk for non alcoholic fatty liver/NASH or have NASH and may  derive significant benefit from the research opportunities currently  available in the United States.

There  are multiple NASH trials currently ongoing in your community. With  integrity and transparency, our goal is to progress the science of fatty  liver and nonalcoholic fatty liver/NASH and ensure that those people  who have no other treatment options have the access to potentially  life-saving therapy.

If you or a loved one would like more  information about fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver/NASH, we  encourage you to contact us at nashinfo@nashhealthinitiative.com or  call 407.902.9486.