The “Silent” Liver Disease on the Rise – Interview with Dr. Mary Rinella

Many people are aware that diabetes and obesity are national health epidemics, but the actual numbers are staggering. Thirty-six percent of American adults are obese, and by 2030, this rate is expected to rise to 50 percent. What those with diabetes and obesity might not realize is that they may be at risk for a serious, yet silent, liver disease. While it is normal for the liver to contain some fat, if left unchecked, liver inflammation can result and develop into something much more serious. It’s called Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), and it is estimated to affect more than 12 percent of the adult population.

Join me in a recent interview with Hepatologist Dr. Mary Rinella as she discusses NASH and how it develops, those at risk for the disease and current treatments.

Click here for the complete interview:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU7nHcPwve0

Mary E. Rinella, MD BIO

Dr. Rinella is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She studied basic mechanisms of steatohepatitis with the support of the American Gastroenterological Association and the National Institute of Health for 10 years.  Currently her focus is in clinical research in the area of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/NASH both before and after liver transplantation. Her primary clinical focus within the NASH realm is on the associations between NASH and cardiovascular disease and the occurrence of NASH after liver transplantation.  She is the Director of the Northwestern Fatty Liver Program and is considered an international thought leader in the field of NAFLD/NASH. She currently serves as Chair of the NAFLD/NASH special interest group at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

For more information, go to www.nashstudy.com.