The Apollo Health City conference held in Hyderabad recently stressed on the need for combating epidemic proportions of liver ailments in Hyderabad.

As a part of its medical education programme with an aim to highlight and educate the medical community about the latest therapeutic options in combating the alarming trend of rise in liver disease in Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad in particular, the conference at Apollo Health City deliberated on ‘Changing perceptions and scenarios in liver diseases – Clinical data to clinical practice in 2013’.

The one day programme was inaugurated by Sangita Reddy, executive director, Apollo Hospitals, and Dr Hari Prasad, CEO (Central Region), Apollo Hospitals; Dr Asha Subbalakshmi, senior consultant Medical Gastroenterologist, Apollo Health City and organising secretary of the conference; eminent faculty from all over India and delegates from across the state were present on the occasion. Renowned senior gastroenterologists Dr Bajrang Pratap and Dr Peddaveerraju were felicitated on the occasion.

The scientific programme focused on the three killers of liver – NAFLD (Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease), Hepatitis ‘B’ Hepatitis ‘C’ and the latest treatment options available. There has been an alarming increase in the incidence of these diseases amongst Indian people in the recent years.  Obesity is a cause of concern amongst the youth of India, due to their sedentary lifestyles, consumption of junk fatty foods, with no exercise regimen. One of the major outcomes of obesity is NAFLD. According to Dr Asha Subbalakshmi, NAFLD will reach epidemic proportions in the years to come with improper lifestyles our youth is tempted to adopt, today.

Giving insights into the evolving trends in gastroenterology, Sangita Reddy said, “Gastroenterology speciality has evolved over the years from simple endoscopies to advanced ERCPs treating acute patients, pregnant mothers and complex big risk cases.”

Highlighting the new advancements being adopted by Apollo Health City in the treatment of liver disease, she said, “for the treatment of liver ailments, first time Apollo Health City is injecting radioactive isotope into the liver secondary and this is a significant advancement in treatment with an excellent outcome.”

Reddy called upon the medical community to raise awareness on prevention and early detection of cancers of the liver, intestine and abdomen. She said Apollo Health City is awaiting permission for performing live donor transplants and the number of transplants will go up significantly with that permission.

The Medical Education Programme also highlighted the exciting advances in treatment of alcoholic liver disease and liver cancer. The new treatments include oral chemotherapy Sorafenib which has fewer side effects than intravenous /systemic chemotherapy. The ultimate treatment for end stage liver disease is liver transplant. The programme highlighted the new faster techniques of transplant surgery including live donor and split liver transplant, where a part of the liver of the donor who is a relative is used.