Category: Blog

Modest alcohol consumption may REDUCE mortality in patients with NAFLD

Posted on by David Frank

A new study from New York Presbyterian Hospital has some eyebrow-raising findings.  We already know that drinking coffee is good for the liver, but you would expect to find less evidence of a positive relationship with alcohol.  Yes, there have been plenty of studies that show a glass of wine can be good for you, but never one that highlighted an actual positive link.

This study goes even further and finds that moderate drinking can actually lead to a reduced mortality risk in patients with NAFLD.  Wut??? Continue reading “Modest alcohol consumption may REDUCE mortality in patients with NAFLD” →

A Star in the Sky: Coping with the sudden loss of a loved one

Posted on by David Frank

My mother passed away suddenly four years ago this month after a short battle with late-stage NASH.  Which is impossible, but somehow true.  Just a few days before being diagnosed with NASH she was celebrating with my wife and I at a housewarming party at the Shore.  A picture of her from that party occupies a prominent place on our fridge; the last picture of her before our lives were all changed forever.

mom pic
Mom just a few days before she fell into a coma as a result of liver failure.

Continue reading “A Star in the Sky: Coping with the sudden loss of a loved one” →

Viking Therapeutics delivers promising results in NALFD trial

Posted on by David Frank

It’s another promising result from one of the dozens of bio-pharmaceutical companies trying to find treatments for fatty liver disease.  Viking Therapeutics announced results from an early study of NAFLD patients that exceeded expectations yesterday, sending the stock soaring 122%.

trial Continue reading “Viking Therapeutics delivers promising results in NALFD trial” →

The devastating effect of NASH on young kids

Posted on by David Frank

Earlier this year I wrote about the sobering fact that up to 10% of children in the USA are estimated to be living with NAFLD, with nearly a quarter of them having progressed to NASH.  It’s bad enough that millions of children are having to face this disease so early in life but the evidence is actually getting worse for pre-teen children, as research has shown that fatty liver disease progression through NASH to fibrosis and eventual liver failure is significantly accelerated versus the teen or adult population.

nafld-affects-children Continue reading “The devastating effect of NASH on young kids” →

The most effective treatment for serious NASH – Surgery

Posted on by David Frank

Ever since my Mom passed away suddenly after being diagnosed with late-stage NASH, I’ve been following the efforts of the medical community and many bio-pharma companies to develop effective treatments for the disease.  Mostly, I’ve followed the efforts to develop medicine that can slow or reverse the effects of NASH, as there is a lot of attention being paid to this and some recent successful trials.

I recently attended an event with a distinguished panel of liver experts and one of the discussion points that surprised me was how effective weight-loss surgery is at treating NASH.  I shouldn’t have been surprised, I suppose, because I already knew that losing a small amount of weight can lead to big improvements in NASH patients.  Surgery just seemed “extreme” to me, but in fact it is by far the most effective way to achieve sustained weight loss, and has even been called one of the most effective interventions in all of health care. Continue reading “The most effective treatment for serious NASH – Surgery” →

The missed opportunities of the “Body Positivity” movement

Posted on by David Frank

Let’s get something out of the way up front.  Dealing with weight issues is an incredibly emotional and sensitive subject, and as a society we should not focus on shaming, shunning, or victimizing the nearly half of the country that is overweight or obese.  By creating a societal image of beauty and attractiveness that ostracizes over a hundred million people in the USA alone, we have done ourselves a terrible disservice.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the medical realities that are strongly correlated to being overweight.  The amount of diseases and medical conditions with direct causal relationships to weight are staggering, and the evidence is strong and tested.  NASH is emerging as perhaps the single largest affliction in terms of both prevalence and incidence, with estimates of over 30 million people currently living in the US with the disease, and the vast majority of them unaware that they have it until it is too late. Continue reading “The missed opportunities of the “Body Positivity” movement” →

Dazed and Confused – when severe NASH leads to Hepatic Encephalopathy

Posted on by David Frank

NASH is undoubtedly a complex disease, with a wide spectrum of progression and diagnosis.  The good news is that if you intervene early you can stop and even reverse the serious liver damage that NASH causes.  The bad news is that if it goes undetected it can cause sudden liver failure and death. Continue reading “Dazed and Confused – when severe NASH leads to Hepatic Encephalopathy” →

My speech for International NASH Day

Posted on by David Frank

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a fantastic group of medical professionals that are all working hard on solving the NASH pandemic as part of International NASH Day’s worldwide efforts to fight the disease.  I’ll be blogging much more about what I learned and hopefully will be able to follow up with some interesting pieces from some of the great people I met today.

Below are the prepared remarks for this speech…you can also click here to view the livestream.

Continue reading “My speech for International NASH Day” →

NASH Isn’t Just For Obese People

Posted on by David Frank

Surprisingly High Cases of “Lean NASH”

While there is a clear causal relationship between obesity, NAFLD, and NASH, studies have shown that there are a significant number of cases of NASH affecting non-obese individuals.  In a recent study up to 15% of those diagnosed with NASH were not considered obese.  These cases are referred to as lean NASH or NOSH (non-obese steatohepatitis).

And there is a real concern for these types of cases because apparently these variations of the disease can have even higher mortality and serious morbidity rates.  Read simply; if you are not obese and get diagnosed with NASH you have an even greater risk of serious life-threatening symptoms.  Continue reading “NASH Isn’t Just For Obese People” →

The Challenge of Diagnosing NASH

Posted on by David Frank

One of the most frustrating parts of the NASH pandemic is that most people suffering from it have no symptoms and absolutely no idea there is even an issue.  Part of the reason for this lack of awareness is because there is no truly definitive way to diagnose NASH other than an invasive biopsy of the liver.

A primary goal of many biopharma companies working on NASH today is not only to find a cure but also to develop non-invasive tests that can conclusively diagnose the disease.  This is important because even with everything that is known about the widespread precedence of the disease routine screening is still not recommended due to uncertainty and costs.  It’s vital that we reach a point where an effective screen for NAFLD/NASH is in widespread use to combat the incidence of the disease.

So how do doctors today determine if someone has NAFLD or NASH?  Here’s everything you need to know. Continue reading “The Challenge of Diagnosing NASH” →