Doctor Jude Oben had grim news for a patient last week. The liver expert told the 60-year-old man that he had cirrhosis – for the second time in his life.
Only four years ago Oben's patient had required a liver transplant after his first bout of cirrhosis, a condition he had contracted because he was obese. "Unfortunately my patient continued to overeat and remained obese," said Oben, a hepatologist based at the Royal Free and St Thomas' hospitals in London. "As a result, he contracted cirrhosis again. Sadly, I had to tell him that this time it was very unlikely he would be given another liver."
Oben's patient is one of a "tidal wave" of cases of cirrhosis, triggered by obesity, that threatens to sweep through hospitals across the UK. "People might be aware that there are metabolic disorders such as diabetes and high blood pressure associated with obesity, but very few know about the connection with cirrhosis. However, there is a very clear link. Obesity can trigger cirrhosis."
Oben, who recently launched the charity Obesity Action Campaign to help in the battle against the spread of the condition, said that 10 years ago he saw only an occasional case of obesity-related cirrhosis in his clinic. Today he has dozens of cases of the illness, which occurs when irreversible scarring causes a person's liver to deteriorate. In the past, excess alcohol consumption and hepatitis infections have been the main causes of cirrhosis in Britain. Now a third cause – obesity – has triggered a major increase in cases of liver disease in the UK.
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