Unlike most of us, the liver does not like parties or excesses. But he has an incredible power: he is resilient. A few weeks of feasting are not enough to knock him out. At the beginning of the year, a detox cure will help him recover perfectly. In the long term, we can start a rebalancing: more vegetables and fruits, less fat or sugar…, what is good for your figure is also good for your liver.
Our liver does not like daily excesses at all
But, if he supports a gap from time to time very well, he has much more difficulty in managing daily excesses. A survey by the League Against Obesity revealed in June 2021 that nearly one in two French people (47%) is overweight or obese. For the liver, this is very bad news. Because until recently, he knew his attackers: alcohol of course, viruses, certain drugs. He must now face an enemy that he had not seen coming: junk food. “Not at all accustomed by previous generations to these excesses, it begins by storing, before being overwhelmed. Over the years, decades, it grows, ignites, becomes fibrous. In fact, it is invaded by strong fibers that prevent its cells, the hepatocytes, from doing their job”, describes Dr. Jean-Louis Payen, gastroenterologist and hepatologist. This junk food disease is called NASH.
“It will be, warn the experts, the scourge of the century. These patients present the same lesions as in alcoholic hepatitis – even when they do not drink a drop of alcohol.” The smooth and supple liver becomes fibrous and hard. Ultimately, this can lead to liver failure, that is to say a “failure” of this organ, or liver cancer.
We must save the liver soldier
“All over the planet, researchers are working hard to find THE drug that will cure NASH. In the meantime, the only drug on the market is what we eat and drink”, announces Dr. Payen. No miracle diet, but simple changes to his lifestyle – moving, eating less and better… – can really save him. In the land of the liver, there is also very good news.
First on the diagnostic side. Vital, this diagnosis, as liver diseases are often silent, until it is too late. Non-invasive tests are developing. As for treatments, hepatologists applaud the drugs that now make it possible to eradicate the hepatitis C virus, when it was still recently a formidable killer. As for immunotherapy, in the trial phase, it is a great hope for patients with liver cancer. A tireless worker, the liver watches over our health. Here’s everything you need to know about it to take better care of it.
Read also :
- To reduce the risk of liver cancer, brush your teeth!
- 6 tips to take care of your liver
