Liver health
Liver health has remained an unmet medical need on the global scale. People are not familiar with the liver. Despite the fact that it’s a vital organ, they may not know that liver health is critical. Chronic liver disease is increasing dramatically, but it can be reversible if diagnosed early and correctly monitored and treated.
The liver ID
The liver is a vital organ, situated on the right side, midway between the waist and the armpit. It is the largest organ of the body (length: 10 cm, weight: 1.4 – 1.6 kg) and one of the hardest working.
The liver is the toxin filter and vitamin reservoir of the body with 3 main functions: detoxify – synthesis – storage.
Chronic liver disease has become a major global health issue⁵
With an estimated worldwide prevalence of 2.5%, chronic liver disease is an increasingly major cause of morbidity and mortality.6
2 million deaths per year worldwide are caused by chronic liver disease.6,7
There are 3 main causes of chronic liver disease
A poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle
NAFLD
25% of the worldwide population have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease8. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, NAFLD reaches up to 73% of this population.9
NASH
1.5-6.45% of the worldwide population have Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis.10
Hazardous alcohol consumption
Alcoholic liver disease is responsible for 3 million deaths every year.*11
Globally, over 50% of cirrhosis-related mortality is attributable to alcohol.
Viral infection
Hepatitis C Virus
More than 71 million people worldwide are infected and approximately 350,000 die each year.12
Hepatitis B Virus
In 2015, 257 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infection and 887,000 died of HBV.13
Silent and under-diagnosed
8 to 9 out of 10 people are unaware of living with viral hepatitis.*14
Mostly asymptomatic, chronic liver disease like NAFLD and NASH are silent but can potentially progress to cirrhosis or liver cancer (HCC).8,15
Cirrhosis is the end-stage of chronic liver disease. It is usually irreversible, with a poor prognosis once clinical decompensation has occurred. The only curative treatment option for decompensated cirrhosis is liver transplant.16
Damage to the liver caused by chronic liver diseases can often be reversed by early diagnosis and intervention.6
Our liver health solutions, FibroScan® and Scores by echosens allow a comprehensive management of liver health.
FibroScan® used for all chronic liver disease etiologies
Basically, anything involving the liver. We use it with fatty liver (NAFLD), hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, NASH, some of the auto-immune diseases, and for patients with hemochromatosis. FibroScan® is a simple, safe and cost-effective screening test for us.
* Including deaths related to alcohol-associated diseases in different organs as well as injuries related to traffic accidents and violence.
References are available in our bibliography.
