Physicians as healers: detecting liver fibrosis early may promote lifestyle changes
It is usually challenging to motivate people to change habits related to alcohol and general health, but a new study from FLASH shows that screening and a conversation with the doctor about specific liver damages can address this extensive problem.
Several studies indicate the difficulty in getting people to change alcohol, dietary, and exercise habits, hence liver damages are often detected too late. However, a new comprehensive study from FLASH can now report that knowledge about liver fibrosis can lead to positive lifestyle changes.
The solution lies in specific counseling rather than broad campaigns, says Alexander Krag, professor and chief physician in hepatology at Odense University Hospital, to Sciencenews.dk.
In the study, FLASH, uniquely, screened a broader population of nearly 5000 people. All participants subsequently received counseling on lifestyle changes, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise, regardless of the result of their screening.
The study shows that the conversations could bring about improvements in both the short and long term, and therefore Aleksander Krag sees a clear future for the prevention method.
"Our results highlight the potential of screening for liver fibrosis as an integral part of prevention, early detection, and treatment of liver-related diseases. If a brief screening and a conversation with a doctor every other year are sufficient to curb the explosion in the number of these lifestyle diseases, it should be worth the investment," he tells Sciencenews.dk.
You can read more about the study and its results at Sciencenews.dk here: https://sciencenews.dk/en/physicians-as-healers-detecting-liver-fibrosis-early-may-promote-lifestyle-changes
The solution lies in specific counseling rather than broad campaigns, says Alexander Krag, professor and chief physician in hepatology at Odense University Hospital, to Sciencenews.dk.
In the study, FLASH, uniquely, screened a broader population of nearly 5000 people. All participants subsequently received counseling on lifestyle changes, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise, regardless of the result of their screening.
The study shows that the conversations could bring about improvements in both the short and long term, and therefore Aleksander Krag sees a clear future for the prevention method.
"Our results highlight the potential of screening for liver fibrosis as an integral part of prevention, early detection, and treatment of liver-related diseases. If a brief screening and a conversation with a doctor every other year are sufficient to curb the explosion in the number of these lifestyle diseases, it should be worth the investment," he tells Sciencenews.dk.
You can read more about the study and its results at Sciencenews.dk here: https://sciencenews.dk/en/physicians-as-healers-detecting-liver-fibrosis-early-may-promote-lifestyle-changes