Liver Health Initiative

You’ve probably heard of Hepatitis A, B, and C: Did you know there is a Hepatitis D?

Hepatitis D is a form of hepatitis that is transmitted through the blood and a person can only be infected with the virus if they already have Hepatitis B.

Getting a vaccination for Hep B keeps you safe from getting Hep B and Hep D.

Your liver has over 500 important functions in your body and you can't live without it. Protect your liver, protect your life.

Did you know what you eat can cause liver cancer?

The Obesity Medicine Association recently met at the Overcoming Obesity conference. These experts made recommendations to help prevent obesity-related cancer and fatty liver:

1. Weight reduction

2. Nutritional diets such as the Mediterranean diet

3. Physical activity

Substitute some higher fat and higher sugar items in your day with your favorite fruits and vegetables.

Take a walk a few days a week to gently increase your physical activity. Ask a friend to join you and enjoy some good conversation.

Small steps each day can decrease your chance of developing preventable diseases like fatty liver and liver cancer. 😀

1 in 5 people is living with chronic liver disease and over 90% of these cases are preventable.

Don't be one of these people. Take action against liver disease.

**Get vaccinated for Hepatitis B.
**Get tested for Hepatitis C. There is treatment for cure.
**Eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly to prevent Fatty Liver Disease.

Simple things can save your life. Take good care of yourself. You're worth it.

What do Naomi Judd, Natalie Cole, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler all have in common?

If you said, they're all singers, you're right. But did you also know each one of them had Hepatitis C and didn't know for several years before diagnosis?

It is estimated that 2.4 million people in the US are living with Hepatitis C and half of them don't know it. This puts them at risk of problems associated with Hepatitis C like liver failure from cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. It also puts their sexual partner at risk of becoming infected.

Hepatitis C is preventable, and if you are infected it is treatable, and in most cases, curable.

If you are over 18, the CDC recommends you get tested for Hepatitis C. Do it for yourself and those you love.

Are you one of the approximately 1 in 4 people who has what's known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)?

In NAFLD the liver becomes infiltrated with fat cells and this can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.

Conditions that are associated with NAFLD like diabetes and obesity increase your risk, so choose healthy behaviors like a diet low in saturated fat and sugar that can reduce your risk.

There are no symptoms until the disease has progressed and some people even develop liver failure and need a liver transplantation.

Talk to your doctor about your personal risk of NAFLD. Knowledge is power.