The Liver is the second largest and the most complex organ in the body, with the exception of the brain is a key player in our body's digestive system. It is an organ that can be easily damaged if you don't take care of it. Over the past decade, there has been a steady rise in the number of cases of liver diseases, and it continues to be a significant health problem in India. Nowadays the younger generation has been affected by liver diseases badly. On this World Liver day, we at Medicircle are presenting World Liver Day Awareness Series, featuring eminent Gastroenterologists and Hepatologist to share their views on how we can keep our liver healthy.

Dr. Shailendra Lalwani is the HOD and Consultant Liver Transplantation and Hepato Pancreatic Biliary Surgery at Manipal Hospitals New Delhi. He has over two decades of experience in the healthcare industry and has performed over 10,000 complex hepatobiliary pancreatic and GI surgical procedures and these procedures have all been open, laparoscopic, and robotic surgeries. He has published his paper in various National and International Publications. He has been honored with several awards and recognition for his outstanding contribution in the field of Gastroenterology.

Annual body health check up is important

Dr. Shailendra mentions, “Every individual should undergo complete body health checkups at least once a year. This checkup also includes liver function tests too. So, even if you are healthy and fine, having no diseases then also you must perform this annual body checkup.”

Weight and fat reduction 

Dr. Shailendra says, “When a body starts accumulating fat, it starts with depositing in the liver first then to any organs. Thus, the deposition of excess fat in the liver is called Fatty liver disease. It has many stages or grades. The main line of treatment for liver diseases is weight reduction and fat reduction.”

Healthy lifestyle and healthy diet

Dr. Shailendra advises, “To keep the liver healthy, one has to follow two important things – a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet. A healthy lifestyle corresponds to regular exercise and drinking enough water to keep the body hydrated. Whereas a healthy diet comprises of the appropriate amount of protein intake and a limited amount of carbohydrates and fats. An individual can maintain liver by following these two things.”

High detection rate and Sedentary lifestyle

Dr. Shailendra stresses, “Presently, fatty liver disease is seen more in the younger generation. Diagnostic facilities have been improved when compared to the past. In the present scenario, even for a small discomfort, everyone rushes to the hospital for diagnosing the situation. So, they are getting detected early and the detection rate has been increased. The second is a sedentary lifestyle. Due to change in lifestyle, even younger generations are getting infected with such diseases as liver cancer.”

Avoid alcohol

Dr. Shailendra shares, “Nutrition and Exercises are very important to keep our body toxin free. Keep a watch what you eat in a day, your diet should be healthy. One should exercise regularly, should go for the morning walk to keep the body fit, and should not indulge in drinking alcohol which is toxic to the body. By incorporating clean healthy practice, hepatitis B and C are not very common these days.” 

Relation between jaundice and liver disease

Dr. Shailendra speaks, “Liver disease which is prominent these days is a fatty liver disease which further results in liver cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease. Individuals who have got Jaundice in their childhood due to any congenital disease, are at increased risk of developing any kind of liver disease in the future. Whereas physiological jaundice in childhood doesn’t require any treatment, it gets treated on its own in 15-20 days and is not a matter of concern too. So early detection and treatment at right time are very important.” 

Dr. Shailendra adds, “avoid alcohol, take proper diet that is rich in protein and limited carbs and fat, take vitamins, doing regular exercises are some of the important steps in keeping our liver healthy.”

(Edited by - Renu Gupta)