PARIS, July 6 — Faced with the increase of overweight people, obesity and diabetes in the world, liver specialists — set to meet at a congress held from today at Institut Pasteur in Paris — are alarmed about the exponential number of cases of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or “Nash”, also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. With some 900,000 people thought to be affected by the disease in France, Dr Jérôme Boursier, head of the gastroenterology and hepatology department at the country’s CHU Angers hospital, is due to present a new test at the upcoming “Nash Symposium,” promising a reliable, simple and noninvasive means of detecting the disease on a mass scale.
A few years ago, such cases of pre-cirrhosis of the liver with cellular lesions, or “Nash” (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), were observed only in alcoholic patients. Currently, 3-11 per cent of children in Western countries could be affected and 100-180 million people worldwide, or 10 per cent of patients with chronic liver disease.
The suspected cause is the consumption of sodas and diet sodas, and of foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol but low in unsaturated fats, fibre, and vitamins C and E. Steatosis corresponds to a build-up of fatty acids in the form of triglycerides in the liver. This phenomenon is susceptible to silently progress towards cirrhosis or cancer of the liver.
To detect non-alcoholic steatohepatitis without resorting to an invasive liver biopsy, French researchers have developed an algorithm using common biological parameters that can be used by all doctors. “With 78 per cent sensitivity and a 53.8 per cent rate of false positives, eLIFT appears to be a good way of establishing a suspected case of NASH to send to a gastroenterology and hepatology department,” explains Dr Jérôme Boursier, head of the gastroenterology and hepatology department at the CHU Angers hospital, who developed the test.
Bariatric surgery as a treatment pathway
Current treatments consist of improving diabetes management (when present), correcting excess lipids in the blood, and following weight loss and exercise programs while avoiding certain foods.
If such lifestyle approaches fail, specialists recommend bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery), reducing calorie intake via the stomach, as a treatment option for obese patients with Nash (10 per cent of patients).
A French study published in the medical journal Gastroenterology in August 2015 observed that bariatric surgery led to the disappearance of Nash in around 85 per cent of cases.
In the USA, 3-5 per cent of the general population and 19 per cent of the obese population has Nash.
The third “Nash Symposium” French-US Think Tank is held today and tomorrow at Institut Pasteur in Paris.
See the programme: www.paris-nash-symposium.org. — AFP-Relaxnews
