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The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) organised another edition of the webinar series on ‘Illness to Wellness’ campaign, themed around “Preventions and Treatment of Liver Ailments”. ASSOCHAM organised this webinar with an objective to cascade mass awareness and disseminate knowledge & wisdom for liver disease prevention and treatment.

The online event was graced by a team of eminent Gastroenterologists, hepatologist who shared their valuable inputs on risk for liver disease, preventive care and services to protect one from infection and irreversible damage, which included Professor (Dr) Gourdas Choudhuri, Chairman, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram; Dr Ashish Kumar, senior consultant, Institute of Liver, Gastroenterology and Pancreatic Biliary Sciences, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi; Dr S.K. Sarin, director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences; Mr Anil Rajput, chairperson, ASSOCHAM CSR Council and Dr Rajesh Kesari, founder and director, Total Care Control who served as a moderator for the panel.

Dr. Choudhuri said, “Besides, food and life-style choices are crucial pillars in prevention and management to keep the liver healthy and functioning well in most people.” Echoing his views, Dr Kumar said, “In recent years, there is an increase in prevalence of liver diseases in India, which are mostly attributed to two main factors - faulty diet and lifestyle, which leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and an increase in alcohol abuse, which leads to alcoholic liver disease.”

Stressing on his point, Dr Kumar added, “Weight reduction using diet and exercise is the most important treatment of NAFLD as for Indian population a BMI between 18.5 and 23 is considered normal and should be the target to achieve. People with BMI ≥23 are considered ‘overweight’ and those with BMI ≥25 are considered ‘obese,’ even if the target BMI of <23 is difficult to achieve for many obese people, at least few kg of weight loss will still be beneficial.” He further said that reduction in calories by 500 to 1000 kcal per day is required for weight reduction and 150 min of moderate exercise per week is recommended.”