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opinion: what canadians keep getting wrong about their liver health
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a new survey by abacus data shows that over 80 per cent of canadians believe alcohol is the top cause of poor liver health.
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you’ve heard the advice: talk to a therapist to improve your mental health. track your blood pressure to keep an eye on your heart health. wear sunscreen to protect your skin. stop drinking to help your liver.
except that the last one isn’t really the most helpful. alcohol causes only one out of more than 100 different types of liver disease, although most canadians have been left with a different impression. a new survey by abacus data shows that over 80 per cent of canadians believe alcohol is the top cause of poor liver health. this belief is even stronger among younger canadians, with 90 per cent buying into the idea.
in canada, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease—once called non-2022年世界杯预选赛阿根廷 liver disease—is the most common, affecting over 10 million canadians, including 240,000 children.
this survey revealed how canadians continue to overlook and misunderstand liver health. we now know that only nine per cent of canadians prioritize their liver when thinking about their health—well behind heart, mental health, digestive, lung and even skin health.
but why? one in four canadians is affected by liver disease. once rare, liver cancer is now one of the fastest-growing cancers in canada. shouldn’t canadians understand the causes and risks more if it’s so pervasive?
this is why we’ve rebranded to liver canada and why we’re ramping up our efforts to educate canadians and raise awareness. we’ve launched a new school program to teach youth about their liver health and free online guides to liver-friendly meals.
while our support for important research will continue behind the scenes, canadians’ understanding of their liver is quite frankly concerning—and that needs to change. now, that doesn’t mean getting you to memorize the 500 functions that the liver performs, but rather understanding how crucial liver health is to your overall well-being, from your hormones to digestion.
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you can be born with liver disease, contract it from a virus, develop it from what you eat and drink, be exposed to various toxins or suffer from it for unknown reasons.
you can have liver disease and not know it because the symptoms can be vague and easily confused with other health problems. sometimes, a person may have no symptoms at all, but the liver may have already suffered significant damage. simply put, your liver is easy to ignore — until something goes wrong.
if there is one thing we want canadians to remember, it’s this: you need your liver to live, and it’s time to start thinking about it that way.
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