NASH – A Silent Killer: 150 World Experts Sign a Global Call to Action to Promote Awareness of Deadly Liver Disease

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More than 150 global liver and metabolic disease experts issued today a call to action against the chronic liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an asymptomatic, "silent" disease that is emerging into a public health crisis and is expected to become the #1 reason for patients needing liver transplant in the U.S. by 2020. The NASH Education Program^[TM] - established to address unmet information needs related to this little known chronic liver disease - publishes the letter on behalf of the experts in preparation for the 1^st International NASH Day, which will take place on June 12, 2018 in more than 25 cities worldwide, online, through web TV programming in 6 languages, and across global social networks.

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The letter reads:

"Today, as an international coalition of experts in liver and metabolic diseases, we are voicing our concern out loud to draw attention to the current lack of general awareness about a silent killer called NASH (Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis), which is a severe form of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) already affecting a quarter of the global population. The purpose is to make sure NASH clearly appears on the radar of mainstream media, becomes a regular topic of discussion, and gets recognized by public health authorities as one of the major issues to be addressed in the next years and decades. We consider this as part of our social responsibility."

About the disease and the unmet need:  

• NASH is a widespread, severe, and "silent" liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis or cancer, and which affects millions of people around the world - including children 
• In a biopsy-proven study, it was shown that 12% of US adults have NASH, with a 63% increase expected by 2030; NAFLD rates are alarming with 31% in South America, 32% in Middle-East, 23% in Europe, and a worrying 10% in children already   
• With prevalence rising and closely associated with modern lifestyles linked to the pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemics - NASH is expected to become the leading cause for liver transplantation in the United States by 2020 
• NASH is a looming public health threat, not only because of the high cost of a liver transplant (~$800k per patient in the United States) and associated complications, but also because NASH is closely associated with non-hepatic disorders such as cardiovascular events which are the leading cause of death in NASH patients 
• NASH remains predominantly unknown in the public because it is a silent disease, displaying no symptoms, meaning that most patients with NASH are not diagnosed. NASH is also under-diagnosed because it is difficult to detect due to the lack of a simple, accurate and cost-effective diagnostic solution 
• NASH patients must fight through stigmas and misconceptions associated with the disease. They also lack access to easy-to-digest information to help them explain their condition to relatives, friend and colleagues who often have trouble understanding its nature and consequences 
• Apart from a few international experts, the medical community - including diabetologists, endocrinologists, obesity specialists, cardiologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, general practitioners and nurses - remains largely under-informed, with limited opportunities to learn about the disease and limited relevant educational resources 
• While there is still no approved treatment available today, several advanced development programs are underway, providing hope to millions of clinicians and patients worldwide (only 10% of patients are actually able to successfully fight the disease through challenging lifestyle changes) 

For all these reasons, we have decided to join the first International NASH Day organized on June 12, 2018 and spread awareness about NASH through this day of action.  

Millions of livers - and lives - are at stake. Millions of people can - and must - do something before it is too late.  

Spread the word on social networks with #NASHday #MacLiver #NAFLD #FattyLiver #LiverDisease #LiverHealth #DiseaseAwareness.

In the name of our patients,  

Thank you."  

Brian Christie, television news journalist, talk show host, former CNN-anchor, and NASH patient: "I'm glad so many experts are getting their voice heard today. NASH took me by surprise and I want to make everything possible to ensure that people are better informed and prepared. What you feel when you discover you have such a late stage disease is terrible. Not only do you suddenly understand that you have a serious life threatening condition, totally unexpected, but you are also being told that there is not a single treatment available to treat you! And yet, I consider myself among the lucky ones! First, because my doctor if one of the most prominent hepatologists in the world, and then, because I have never been accused of alcohol abuse or suffering from other misconceptions too often associated with chronic liver diseases. This is why I'm so glad to see what The NASH Education Program has managed to achieve in just one year… setting-up the first-of-its-kind international NASH Day is quite an accomplishment ! And it's undoubtedly highly relevant to build a coalition of key stakeholders to spread awareness, involving patient advocacy groups and non-profit organizations, as well as the best experts in the world of hepatology and metabolic diseases. All this helps to address patients' unmet needs."  

Signed, 

Pr Manal Abdelmalek (Durham, USA), Dr Gupse Adali (Istanbul, Turkey), Pr Ulus Salih Akarca (Izmir, Turkey), Dr Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar (Tokyo, Japan), Dr Michael Allison (Cambridge, UK), Pr Abdullah Al-Osaimi (Philadelphia, USA), Pr Francesco Angelico (Rome, Italy), Pr Quentin Anstee (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), Dr Roberta Araújo (Ribeirão Preto, Brazil), Dr Amon Asgharpour (New York, USA), Pr Fehmi Ates (Mersin, Turkey), M.  Michaël Auffret (Valbonne, France), Dr Salvador Augustin (Barcelona, Spain), Pr Yasemin Balaban (Ankara, Turkey), Dr Francesco Baratta (Rome, Italy), Pr Metin Basaranoglu (Istanbul, Turkey), Dr Seth Baum (Boca Raton, USA), Dr Pierre Bedossa (Paris, France), Dr Javier Benavides (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Dr Marc Bourlière (Marseille, France), Dr Terry Box (Salt Lake City, USA), Dr Juan Caballeria (Barcelona, Spain), Pr Bertrand Cariou (Nantes, France), Dr Rotonya Carr (Philadelphia, USA), Pr Armando Carvalho (Coimbra, Portugal), Pr Laurent Castera (Clichy, France), Ms Gheeraert Céline (Lille, France), Dr Lucy Chaillous (Nantes, France), Dr Manu Chakravarthy  (Cambridge, USA), Dr Jean Chan (San Diego, USA), Dr Shaun Chandna (Salt Lake City, USA), Pr Michael Charlton (Chicago, USA), Dr Michael P Cooreman (Randolph, USA), Dr Arif Mansur Cosar (Trabzon, Turkey), Dr Marcelo Costa (Brasilia, Brazil), Pr Claudia Couto (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Pr Javier Crespo (Santander, Spain), Ms Donna Cryer (Washington, DC, USA), Dr Kenneth Cusi (Gainesville, Florida, USA), Dr Yock Young Dan (Singapore), Pr Victor De Ledinghen (Bordeaux, France), Dr Marilyne Debette Gratien (Limoges, France), Pr Maria Del Ben (Rome, Italy), Dr Münevver Demir (Cologne, Germany), Dr Amreen Dinani (New York, USA), Dr Vanessa Dubois (Lille, France), Pr Pierre-Henri Ducluzeau  (Tours, France), Pr Jean-Francois Dufour (Bern, Switzerland), Dr Jerome Eeckhoute (Lille, France), Dr Fatih Eren (Istanbul, Turkey), Dr Judith Ertle (Ingelheim, Germany), Dr Claudia Filozof (Madrid, Spain), Dr Mikael Forsgren (Linköping, Sweden), M. John Franc (West Conshohocken, USA), Pr Sven Francque (Antwerpen, Belgium), Dr Juan Pablo Frias (Los Angeles, USA), Dr Scott Friedman (New York, USA), Pr Michael Fuchs (Richmond, USA), Dr Francisco Fuster (Viña del Mar, Chile), Dr Adrian Gadano (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Dr Juan Gallegos-Orozco (Salt Lake City, USA), Pr Anja Geerts (Ghent, Belgium), Pr Jacob George (Sydney, Australia), Dr Amna Ghouse (Richmond, USA), Dr Ulrike Graefe-Mody (Ingelheim, Germany), Ms Katherine Greene (Washington, USA), Pr Antonio Grieco (Roma, Italy), Pr Henning Grønbæk (Aarhus, Denmark), Pr Bruno Guerci  (Nancy, France), Dr Marie  Guillouche (Nantes, France), Dr Maeva Guillaume (Toulouse, France), Dr Mário Guimarães Pessoa (São Paulo, Brazil), Dr Nadege Gunn (Austin, USA), Dr Dina Halegoua-DeMarzio (Philadelphia, USA), Dr Michael Hambleton (West Chester, USA), Dr Yehuda Handelsman (Los Angeles, USA), Dr Rémy Hanf (Lille, France), Dr Stephen Harrison  (San Antonio, USA), Dr Vaclav Hejda (Pilsen, Czech Republic), Dr Helliner Hill (Parsippany, USA), Dr Gideon Ho (Singapore), Dr Alexander Hodge (Melbourne, Australia), Dr Suneil Hosmane (Cambridge, USA), Dr Dean Hum (Lille, France), Dr Ramazan Idilman (Ankara, Turkey), Dr Ira Jacobson (New York, USA), Dr Alisan Kahraman (Essen, Germany), Pr Murat Kiyici (Bursa, Turkey), Dr Ger Koek (Maastricht, The Netherlands), Dr Frederik Kruger (Cape Town, South Africa), Dr Sonal Kumar (New York, USA), Dr Laura Ladrón de Guevara (Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico), Ms Amy Langford (West Chester, USA), Pr Nicolas Lanthier (Brussels, Belgium), Pr Joel Lavine  (New York, USA), Dr Cédric Le May (Nantes, France), Dr Philippe Lefebvre  (Lille, France), Pr Rohit Loomba (San Diego, USA), Pr Mamun Al Mahtab (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Dr Niel Malan (Port Elizabeth, South Africa), Pr Giulio Marchesini (Bologna, Italy), Dr José Miguel Marroquín de la Garza (Monterrey, México), Dr Magnus McLeod (Halifax, Canada), Dr  Sophie Megnien (Boston, Cambridge, USA), Pr Nahum Mendez-Sanchez (Mexico City, Mexico), Dr Sam E Moussa (Tuscon, USA), Dr Guy Neff (Lakewood Ranch, USA), Dr Jude Oben (London, UK), Dr Claudia Oliveira (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Dr Edison Roberto Parise (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Dr Daniele Pastori (Rome, Italy), Pr Markus Peck-Radosavljevic (Klagenfurt, Austria), Ms Bianca Perales (Victoria, USA), Dr Salvator Petta (Palermo, Italy), Dr Tugrul Purnak (Ankara, Turkey), Pr Karina Raikhelson (Saint-Petersburg, Russia), Dr Naayil Rajabally (Cape Town, South Africa), Pr Vlad Ratziu (Paris, France), Dr Ravi Ravinuthala (Cincinnati, USA), Pr Mary Rinella (Chicago, USA), Pr Manuel Romero-Gomez (Sevilla, Spain), Dr Steve Rossi (San Francisco, USA), Dr Marina Roytman (Fresno, USA), Pr Arun Sanyal (Richmond, USA), Pr Jörn Schattenberg (Mainz, Germany), Dr Giada Sebastiani (Montreal, Canada), Dr Uday Shankar (Hazard, USA), Dr Akshay Shetty (Charleston, USA), Dr Rita Silva ( Sao Jose do Rio Preto (Sao Paulo), Brazil), Dr Laura Smart (Louisville, USA), Dr Sarra Smati (Toulouse, France), Dr Coleman Smith (Washington D.C., USA), Dr Joel Solis (McAllen, USA), Dr German Soriano (Barcelona, Spain), Dr Jan-Peter Sowa (Magdeburg, Germany), Pr Bart Staels (Lille, France), Ms Christy Swope (Nashville, USA), Dr Wing-Kin Syn (Charleston, USA), Dr Andrew Talal (Buffalo, USA), Dr Brent Tetri (St. Louis, USA), Dr Blandine Tramunt (Toulouse, France), Ms Brenda Vere (Southborough, USA), Pr Bruno Vergès (Dijon, France), Dr Dharmendra Verma (Victoria, USA), Pr Cristiane Villela-Nogueira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Dr Manjula Vinod (Lille, France), Dr Miriam Vos (Atlanta, USA), Dr Liangsu Wang (Boston, USA), Dr Gregory Wiener (Chula Vista-San Diego, USA), Dr Suna Yapalı (Istanbul, Turkey), Dr Yusuf Yilmaz (Istanbul, Turkey)

We invite individuals who are interested to learn more about NASH to follow the official accounts of International NASH Day on social media. And to share content to spread the word!

About the 1^st International NASH Day 

Social networks   

• Official website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Youtube
• LinkedIn

Cities involved  

• Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Durham, North Carolina, USA
• Miami, Florida, USA
• New York, USA
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Phoenix, USA
• San Antonio, Texas, USA
• San Diego, California, USA
• Saint-Louis, Missouri, USA
• Washington DC, USA
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Santiago de Chile, Chile
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Hong-Kong, China
• Berlin, Germany
• Bern, Switzerland
• Brussels, Belgium
• London, UK
• Madrid, Spain 
• Paris, France
• Roma, Italy
• Stockholm, Sweden 
• Angers, France
• Antwerpen, Belgium
• Barcelona, Spain
• Lausanne, Switzerland
• Lille, France 
• Mainz, Germany
• Nice, France
• Sevilla, Spain

Global supporters and benefactors 

A new global benefactor has recently joined the coalition:

Gema Parlange, Vice President and Worldwide Head, Access Consulting, PAREXEL said: "As global experts in paving the way for successful launch of new medicines, we are delighted to be able to provide our support to The NASH Education Program's critical initiative, which seeks to provide comprehensive information that helps patients and physicians make the right NASH decisions."

• American Liver Foundation (ALF)
• Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
• Barc
• British Liver Trust (BLT)
• Covance
• Cymabay Therapeutics
• Delpharm 
• Diafir
• Echosens
• Enanta Pharmaceuticals
• Fatty Liver Foundation (FLF)
• Genfit
• Global Liver Institute (GLI)
• Health Unlocked
• Inventiva Pharma
• IQVIA
• National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA)
• National Hispanic Medical Associations (NHMA)
• Parexel
• The Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver (ALEH)
• The Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH)
• CM-CIC

Local supporters and benefactors 

• HistoIndex (Singapore)

A first local benefactor has recently joined the coalition:

Dr Gideon Ho, CEO of HistoIndex commented: "As the first Singapore benefactor in the 1st International NASH Day, we hope to form a greater awareness of NASH as a prevalent disease here in Singapore. In addition, HistoIndex is committed towards establishing a more accurate and consistent assessment for NASH diagnosis and drug development."

About NASH 

NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, is a metabolic disease characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver, along with inflammation and the degeneration of liver cells. The disease is associated with long-term risk of progression into diminished liver functionality, leading to non-alcoholic cirrhosis, liver insufficiency and possibly even liver cancer. It also is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases which represent the leading cause of mortality for NASH patients. The rise of NASH is connected to type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemics that are growing globally.

References: Williams 2011, Charlton 2011, Selvakumar 2017, Estes 2017, Younossi 2017, Kim 2013, Angulo 2015, Milliman Research Report 2017

About The NASH Education Program^[TM]

The non-profit NASH Education Program defines and drives initiatives in collaboration with an independent scientific committee composed of four international key opinion leaders in the hepatic and metabolic disease ecosystems in the U.S. and Europe. To learn more, visit http://www.the-nash-education-program.com.

Contact 
The NASH Education Program^[TM]

[email protected] 
Pascaline Clerc - U.S. Campaign Manager | [email protected] 
Press Relations  
For the EU: Ulysse Communication | Bruno Arabian | [email protected] | +33-687884726
For the US: SuSiglo Media | Maritza Puello | [email protected] | +1-917-886-3495

SOURCE The NASH Education Program