What You Need to Know About Your Liver & Liver Disease {Interview}
Your liver is vital — a healthy liver performs over 500 important functions for your body, including eliminating toxins and cleaning the blood, storing vitamins and minerals and transforming nutrients into energy.[i]
Unfortunately, liver disease is a growing problem in this country and the cause is fatty liver disease, not alcohol. Some fat in the liver is normal, but when fatty liver progresses to inflammation and cell damage, the result is NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.[ii] The complications of NASH may be life-threatening. If left unchecked, NASH can lead to liver scarring, liver failure, cancer and even death.[iii] NASH is now the second most common cause of liver transplant in the U.S.[iv] As early as 2020, it is expected to be the first.[v]
While NASH can affect people of any age, it’s found most often in people with health issues that include[vi]:
- Obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Insulin resistance
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
Since NASH often has no symptoms, it can progress for years, or even decades, without a diagnosis.ii However, advances in screening technology have led to the development of a non-invasive diagnostic tool that quickly and painlessly detects liver scarring, or fibrosis, in the body, like the kind caused by NASH. This is critical because by receiving the proper diagnosis, more people can make the lifestyle modifications that can slow, stop or even reverse the progression of their disease.
Join me in a recent interview with inspirational NASH patient, Wayne Eskridge of Boise, Idaho, who was blindsided when he was diagnosed with NASH three years ago and Ann Moore, FNP-C, a nurse practitioner and liver specialist. In this interview, Ann and Wayne will discuss the facts surrounding NASH, and help bring general awareness to this condition and what people need to know about it.
Listen to the entire interview here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/eDNS1ldyN2k
For more information, go to http://www.fattyliverfoundation.org.
Wayne Eskridge, Fatty Liver Foundation President and CEO
Wayne Eskridge, an electrical engineering graduate from the University of Idaho, worked in software and electronics through a 50-year professional career. He served in many technical and managerial roles beginning as a computer programmer, through multiple levels of technical and managerial positions in businesses of all sizes. He held executive positions in both public and private corporations with worldwide responsibilities, and from startups to Fortune 500 firms.
In 2015 Wayne was diagnosed with stage 4 NASH with cirrhosis. He had no symptoms and didn’t know that his diet, typical of so many Americans, was unhealthy and damaging to his liver. As a result of his own experiences, he became aware of an acute need for educational resources for patients. While there is currently no medical treatment for NAFLD/NASH, lifestyle changes can be effective. Wayne believes that prevention through education is the only practical solution today. His desire to help others avoid his experiences led him to the decision to become a patient champion and to create the Fatty Liver Foundation.
Ann Moore, FNP-C, Liver Specialist
Ann Moore, FNP is a board certified nurse practitioner with over 30 years of liver disease management experience. She currently works at the Institute for Liver Health, a private practice liver disease facility in the metropolitan Phoenix area which provides specialized diagnostics, evaluation, treatment and access to clinical trials for patients with fatty liver and other liver diseases.
Ann has a special interest in fatty liver disease as well as liver transplantation. She is recognized nationwide for her liver disease expertise, and serves as an advisor to many organizations and companies involved in the management of liver disease. She was awarded the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence in 2014 for her work with Hepatitis C patients in rural and underserved communities.
She is an associate member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and the Arizona Nurses Association. Ann completed her master’s degree in nursing and post masters’ as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Phoenix.
*Interview courtesy: Nonprofit Fatty Liver Foundation (nonprofit) and Intercept Pharmaceuticals
