It is very early and we don't know a lot yet but Intercept Pharmaceuticals has just released results of their Phase 3 test of Obeticholic Acid as a possible treatment for NASH.

This is a major step for us as patients.  We all know the story.  The doc says sadly, "You have cirrhosis, I'm sorry we have no treatment".  This is a refrain we see retold thousands of times here at the Foundation and it is the path I have personally traveled. I've written that we are on the brink of a new day when we will have options.  This is the dawning of that day.

http://ir.interceptpharma.com/news-releases/news-release-details/intercept-announces-positive-topline-results-pivotal-phase-3

You may think dying of liver disease is for old people. According to the CDC it is the 4th leading cause of death for the 45-54 year olds.  In this analysis a low number is very bad. If you ignore poisoning (drug overdose), and suicide, it is the second leading cause exceeded only by its common partner heart disease.

We provide quite a bit of information about the silent killer that is liver disease but since the organ has few symptoms before it starts to die most people don't see themselves as being at risk.  Since you are on my newsletter list you probably know the disease for what it is.  I am writing this one in hopes that you might forward it to someone you care about that may not be aware of the risk that they face.  We frequently hear from young people with families who are suddenly diagnosed with cirrhosis.  That is a mostly preventable tragedy but understanding the risk is the first step.

I encourage you to share this with someone you know who might benefit from the information.

As a patient, I approach NAFLD and NASH with a food as medicine strategy. I believe in the idea that with a damaged organ making it work as little as possible is the only rational plan.

For now, let's assume that you are eating a liver friendly diet but what do you do for those in-between times.  A snack when you need something convenient.  We all know that vegetables, fruits and nuts make a great snack but are a challenge if you are not at home. We need something that is convenient, not messy, doesn't spoil, isn't bulky, doesn't require preparation, and most importantly is consistent with the food strategy.

As an experiment, let's say that you are a person who cares about your health.  Assume you know that liver disease is commonly asymptomatic or silent. It gives you no clue that it is dying until it is in bad shape.  As an advocate for your own health, can you look at your own medical history and decide how likely it is that you need in depth diagnosis for the silent killer of cirrhosis?

There has been a lot of recent research on blood based screeners and the field is advancing rapidly.  It is still early and the broad practice of primary care medicine has not yet started using the best information available routinely.  However, we now know that we can look at something more than just whether AST and ALT are elevated as guides to advancing liver disease. It is important to understand that high levels of these tests indicate that a lot of liver damage is occurring.  What you want to know is are you at risk of being in that situation even though you have no symptoms.

As patients we worry about today and will we be better or worse tomorrow so we barely glimpse the broader medical dynamic that is remaking the very concept of medical care.

There has never been a time like this in human history.  Between 1750 and 1850 medical knowledge doubled.  It doubled again by 1920.  By 2008 it was doubling in about 7.6 years and by 2004 it was about 3.4 years.  It is projected that by 2020 medical knowledge will double in 73 days.  It is inconceivable that our systems can deliver that knowledge to us in the form of treatments at a rapid pace like that but can you imagine what the great leaps might be that may be possible for us as patients.

If you have to be ill, this is a good time to be doing it.  Despite all the frustration, ineffectiveness, lethargy, and downright pigheadedness that can be the patient experience, help is on the way.

This a link to an article a good friend wrote.  I'll tempt you with a sample but it deserves reading in its entirety.

transplanting-pig-kidneys-in-humans-and-other-ideas-to-solve-the-organ-shortage

• There are 114,000 sick patients on the organ transplant list in the U.S., but about 8,000 people die every year waiting for the organs they need, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing.
• Start-ups have invented new organ profusion machines to keep donor organs alive until surgery to reduce organ death and boost the number of organs available for transplant.
• Scientists are using gene-editing techniques to make it possible to transplant pig kidneys in humans.
• The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is doing stem cell research to develop ways to repair and regenerate damaged organs.

We are working with the Healthy Trucking Association of America, (HTAA) to help educate and support truckers at risk of liver disease.  It isn't commonly known that truckers have among the highest rates of diabetes and heart disease of any profession which means they also have a high risk of asymptomatic undiagnosed liver disease.  We will be doing a live radio broadcast about liver disease on  INTHECAB  radio at 4:00 PM CST February 6th.  This is internet radio so if you would like to listen click on the link at that time.  If you are a country music fan you may like the station even if you aren't a trucker.

Superfood  -- Miracle Cure -- doctors don't want you to know -- fix your liver quick

Sound familiar? Have you ever responded to an ad for something to help your liver?  A few of you have as it is a multi-billion dollar business.  Most of us have taken something, mostly on the hope that it might help.  I'd like you to take a minute and examine the question critically of whether or not you can reasonably expect a benefit from products like that.

I want you to click on this picture and study it in a larger size for a minute or two

I recently attended the 2018 meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD). It is the key liver research association in the US.  It brings together the top researchers in the field with reports on their work.  Since there are no therapies for those of us who have liver disease, this is an important benchmark as we look at the state of research.

I'll discuss this more fully below but the short version is that we will get therapies for liver disease in the next 2 to 5 years.

The message in that, is that it is rational to have hope in the face of a diagnosis of serious disease which currently has no treatment.  I'm reminded of a stanza from a favorite poet, Kipling, in a piece called "IF".

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

       to do their turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

      except the will that says to them Hold On.

For so many, holding on is hard to do when faced with the constant strain of chronic illness, but help is on the way. A few observations of the meeting and the state of liver research. This is a little long but it is a big subject, worth your time.

The suicide rate for doctors is double that of veterans.  The veteran death toll is a disgrace but you likely haven't heard about the docs.  Can we, as patients, help?

There is an increasing dismay in the liver disease community as more people are shocked to learn that they have cirrhosis. A common question within the community is why wasn't I told? How is it possible that my doctors didn't warn me? As this current of dissatisfaction grows there is a counter current in which medical care is being transformed into a process that commonly satisfies neither doctor nor patient. More dangerously it threatens to kill the soul of medical care and to drive out the best practitioners of the healing art.

Hopefully you clicked on the picture to hear the very short quote from Shakespeare.  Sometimes I can't resist a bit of drama.

Since you have an interest in liver disease, I wanted to let you know that we have reached a real milestone in the development of the foundation.  We intend to help change the way liver disease, particularly NASH, is managed and to save the lives of millions who do not know today that they are at risk.

There are some benefits to being an advocate.  Sometimes you get to be first. We just finished training and certifying our staff to do FibroScan tests.  As part of that I got to be the first one tested.  Getting to this point has been a long journey, about 9 months, so a birth of sorts though happily a painless one. Everyone shows off baby pictures, here is beauty for anyone who hasn't seen a FibroScan report. This is my new scan. Click on it if you'd like to see the full size view.

Although this note is about our screening project, it is also an opportunity to reinforce our view that with lifestyle changes it can be possible to improve liver health, even for a cirrhosis patient. 

In every battle there are moments which mark the end of an era. They portend the beginning of something new and a time when tiny things can sprout and grow to a vast scale. Sometimes analogy man gets loose in my mind and I apologize in advance, but I'm drawn to the stories of things that speak to universal truths. Did you know that the biggest living thing on earth, the giant redwood, grows from one of the smallest tree seeds? The Wellness League may be that tiny seed that just grows.

I recently wrote about my view that for the first time a cirrhosis patient could look forward to real medical therapies.  A few folks felt that I was planting false hopes and that such miracles weren't going to happen.  In light of that, I thought I might provide a broader view of the situation today.

Some of you are old enough to remember that not so long ago Hep C was unknown.  We called the illness non A non B hepatitis. Today we have a cure. A miracle perhaps but also a lesson.

For cirrhosis patients there has always been a doomsday clock.  We all know that there are no treatments and only a transplant can save us.  Transplant is on the mind of a lot of us but what do the statistics say?

OK, get ready. BORING government statistics coming. Sorry, but sometimes it is really important to know what is happening to our children.

Statistics from the CDC, from 1999 to 2016, annual U.S. mortality from cirrhosis increased by 65% from 20,661 to 34,174. Let that sink in for a minute. What if we chart the rate of change of various disease.  Not the number of patients but how it is changing.  Look at this chart for a minute. This shows how fast things are changing and those liver statistics are horrifying.

If so, you are not alone. This is a link to some patient education materials we are working on as part of our mission to bring the problem of liver disease into the public discussion.

A personal journey with NASH, things you need to know.

The Fatty Liver Foundation exists because I was not willing to be a well behaved member of the parade of misery that liver disease is becoming for our society.  My bucket list includes not dying of liver disease. I do a review from time to time for all the new people. Hopefully it is of some benefit to the old timers, but lets step back and think about our goals.

It is said that death and taxes are the only constants but we should include the Law Of Unintended Consequences as a universal truth.  For patients this is particularly true.  We want to be well but every decision carries the potential for things we didn't expect.

How bad is it? It has been projected that today's children will be the first generation in history to have a shorter life span than their parents. Even with the rapid advancement of medicine the society is becoming less well and chronic disease in many forms is epidemic. Even if we live longer, the end of life when we suffer and die slowly and painfully is getting longer for many.  Not the ideal trade off perhaps.

I bet you didn't know you had a Bliss Point, but you do, and it is being manipulated every day by strangers in white coats.

Not to be confused with the G spot, the Bliss Point, is also a source of pleasure but it can become a pathway to disease and death.

The Bliss Point is a concept developed by food researchers.  This is the industrial food industry at work.  The way we perceive most foods is by the combination of salt, sugar, and fat which we interpret as "tastiness".  That perfect combination satisfies our brain and makes us feel good and we "like" that particular food. Well whoop di do, that seems like a good idea, who could object to good tasting food?  Well, none of us really, but how might our response to food be used against us?