A month devoted to the importance of liver awareness gives you the opportunity to focus on the important role the liver plays. You can also learn about different forms of liver disease including the threat posed by obesity and steatosis (fatty liver).

And to begin, why not take the quick quiz to test your knowledge about liver disease? It’s definitely quick—just four questions!

How much do you know about liver disease? Just in time for Liver Awareness Month 2013, here’s a quick quiz—with the answers:

Q: How many people in America have one form or another of liver disease?
A: 30 million
Q: How many types of disease are there?
A: More than 100
Q: Is it possible to have liver disease and not know about it?
A: Yes, the shocking fact is that about 75 percent of the population infected with hepatitis B and hepatitis C is unaware they are even infected.
Q: Is it true that liver disease is primarily caused by alcohol and drug abuse?
A: No, while it continues to be one of the causes, the truth is that liver disease can occur for many other reasons including the mounting obesity rate in the United States.

The Liver’s Important Role

As the quick quiz illustrates, there is a critical need for the American Liver Foundation throughout the year, but especially during Liver Awareness Month, to educate the general public about the important role the liver plays and how to maintain a healthy liver.

The Focus on Steatotic Livers Intensifies

Much of the Foundation’s emphasis during October continues to point to the cause and treatment for liver diseases like hepatitis A, B and C; cirrhosis, biliary atresia and liver cancer.

But the Foundation is also tapping into the heightened awareness during Liver Awareness Month to draw attention to the alarming increase in the incidence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)* which, staggeringly, affects up to 25 percent of people in the United States.

MASLD is the buildup of extra fat in the liver that isn’t caused by alcohol. It’s normal for the liver to contain some fat. But if more than five to ten percent of the liver’s weight is fat, then it is called steatosis.*

Most often, MASLD tends to develop in people who are overweight or obese or have diabetes, high cholesterol or high triglycerides. Sedentary behavior is another major contributing factor to the onset of MASLD.

For these reasons, concern continues to grow as one in ten children—that’s seven million children in the United States—is estimated to have fatty livers.

MASLD can become even more serious. It can progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)*, which means that along with the fat, there is inflammation and damage to the liver. A swollen liver may cause scarring (fibrosis and cirrhosis) over time and may even lead to liver cancer or liver failure.

Obesity and Steatotic Liver Disease (Fatty Liver)

The Liver’s Important Role

The Focus on Steatotic Livers Intensifies

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