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Around 30% of the world's population has too much fat in their liver, and almost none of them know it. Liver disease stays silent until it is very advanced, which is exactly why so many people are found too late.
In this episode I sit down with Prof Aleksander Krag, professor and department chair of gastroenterology and hepatology at Odense University Hospital and former Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, to separate the frightening headline number from the thing that actually determines risk. It is not the fat. It is the scarring, and there is a simple test that can tell you whether you have any.
What we cover
Why a third of us have fat in our liver, and why that alone is not the thing to worry about
Steatosis versus fibrosis, and why only scarring predicts clinical liver disease
What blood-based alcohol biomarkers revealed about self-reported drinking
The single home measurement that tracks liver risk best
FIB-4, FibroScan, elastography, and ELF, explained plainly
How reversible liver damage really is, and where semaglutide and resmetirom fit
The policy levers Aleksander argues would prevent more disease than any clinic can
If you have ever wondered whether your drinking, your waistline, or your last set of liver enzymes is worth acting on, this conversation gives you a clear place to start.
To connect with Prof Aleksander Krag, visit the Centre for Liver Research (FLASH) at the University of Southern Denmark, follow him on X, or find him on LinkedIn.
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Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Creator of theproof.com
Host of The Proof with Simon Hill
Author of The Proof is in the Plants
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