Giessen, Hanover, Cologne – Under the motto: “Do you know your liver values?”, the organizers of the 24th German Liver Day are putting liver health and the importance of liver values in the blood at the center of public attention. With nationwide press and public relations work, the organizers create more awareness of the health of the vital organ all year round and offer additional information on liver diseases at www.lebertag.org. As part of the nationwide day of action on November 20, 2023, the organizers – Gastro-Liga e. V., German Liver Aid e. V. and German Liver Foundation – the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information over three days: Liver experts answer individual questions about the liver and liver diseases during free telephone campaigns.
The liver is the most versatile and largest internal organ in the human body. About one and a half liters of blood are pumped through the liver every minute, which amounts to almost 2,000 liters of blood in a day. This means it fulfills vital tasks such as breaking down metabolic products, medications and toxins. The liver produces vital proteins and regulates fat metabolism. It also plays a crucial role in blood clotting by producing clotting factors. The liver also has a storage function for important nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and supplies the body with them if they do not come from food. A healthy liver is therefore of great importance for general well-being and health. A strain on the liver and often the cause of permanent damage include: unhealthy diet – often in connection with a lack of exercise and obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, medication, environmental influences and viral infections.
Liver diseases are widespread in Germany – millions of German citizens have liver disease without knowing it. Regardless of the cause of the disease, long-term inflammation can scar the liver and lead to cirrhosis. If cirrhosis progresses, dangerous complications including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are possible. Some liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis B or inflammatory fatty liver disease can lead to hepatocellular cancer even without cirrhosis. However, complications can often be avoided if the liver disease is discovered early and treated individually. However, diseases of the vital organ are often only recognized late because in many cases they do not cause any symptoms for a long time or only cause non-specific symptoms such as: B. cause fatigue. However, the first signs of liver disease can be elevated liver values, which can be detected in a blood test.
The organizers of the German Liver Day recommend having liver values in the blood (GPT, GOT and gGT) determined. These tests are not yet part of the standard examinations such as the “health examination”, in which statutory health insurance companies now offer their insured persons aged 35 and over to be examined once for hepatitis B and C. For members of a risk group, health insurance companies usually cover the costs of this examination. In addition to people who are overweight and consume a lot of alcohol, risk groups also include patients who take medication on a long-term basis. Likewise, people who received a blood transfusion before 1992 should definitely get tested for hepatitis C.
A particular health problem primarily affects western industrialized countries – and this is also becoming increasingly serious in Germany: more and more adults as well as children and adolescents are developing steatotic liver disease (SLD). Today, SLD is the most common liver disease in Germany. One reason for this is that more and more people are overweight. In addition to weight gain, insulin resistance, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity can also play a role. This form of the disease is now referred to as MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease).
MASLD involves a buildup of fat in the liver cells, which can progress to fatty liver inflammation and cirrhosis of the liver in some patients. A study analysis recently published in the USA using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes to the conclusion that the life expectancy of the American population as a whole has fallen by around 2.5 years. Dietary habits and obesity are cited as the reasons for this development. Consuming ready meals, fast food and sugary soft drinks often leads to obesity (being very overweight) and is, among other things, the trigger for chronic diseases, including fatty liver disease. Chronic liver disease is one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. In Germany too, experts are already talking about a “nutritional disaster”, which means that there are more and more people in this country who are morbidly overweight and have associated secondary diseases.
The organizers of the German Liver Day offer: www.lebertag.org a wealth of information as well as a free download of a brochure with information on functions and diseases of the liver as well as current treatment options.
To encourage people to learn more about their own liver health and to ask questions about the liver and liver diseases, the organizers are holding three telephone campaigns as part of German Liver Day:
Details about the three major Liver Day telephone campaigns
The liver specialists will be on hand on the three telephone campaign days as part of the 24th German Liver Day November 16, 17 and 20, 2023 each of 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m available. On the free telephone number 0800 666 39 22 The liver specialists answer all interested parties’ questions about the liver, liver health and liver diseases.
With this offer, the organizers of the 24th German Liver Day would like to help ensure that the vital organ and its diseases receive more public attention. At the same time, they point out that telephone consultations do not replace a personal visit to the doctor or an individual diagnosis.
These liver experts will be available as contacts for the first Liver Day telephone campaign on Thursday, November 16, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.:
Prof. Dr. Tony BrunsAachen University Hospital
Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas TeufelMannheim University Hospital
This liver expert will be available as a contact person for the second Liver Day telephone campaign on Friday, November 17, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.:
PD Dr. Michael SchultheissUniversity hospital Freiburg
These liver experts will be available as contacts for the third Liver Day telephone campaign on Monday, November 20, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.:
PD Dr. Anton GillessenSacred Heart Hospital Münster-Hiltrup
Prof. Dr. Christoph RoderburgUniversity Hospital Düsseldorf
More information about the 24th German Liver Day and all press information published so far as part of this year’s German Liver Day can be found at: www.lebertag.org.
The organizers would like to thank the sponsors of the 24th German Liver Day on November 20, 2023: AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Alexion Pharma Germany GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH and Gilead Sciences GmbH. The sponsors have no influence on the content of this press release.
The cooperation partners of the 24th German Liver Day are: Working Group of Senior Gastroenterological Hospital Doctors (ALGK), Professional Association of Resident Gastroenterologists in Germany (bng), German Society for Addiction Medicine (DGS), German Society for Gastroenterology, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS), Society for Rehabilitation Digestive and metabolic diseases (GRVS) and liver transplant patients Germany.
Organizer and contact person for the 24th German Liver Day:
German Liver Aid e. v., Prof. Dr. Christoph Sarrazin, Chairman of the Board
Krieler Straße 100, 50935 Cologne
[email protected]
www.leberhilfe.org
German Liver Foundation, Prof. Dr. Michael P. Manns, CEO
Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hanover
[email protected]
www.deutsche-leberstiftung.de
German Society for Combating Diseases of the Stomach, Intestines and Liver as well as Disorders of Metabolism and Nutrition (Gastro-Liga) e. v., Prof. Dr. Peter R. Galle, member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Friedrich-List-Straße 13, 35398 Giessen
[email protected]
www.gastro-liga.de