An investigation of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden opens a new door to the prevention of serious complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. This study suggests that liver damage, such as fibrosis or even advanced stages such as cirrhosis, could be detected at the same time thatThey perform the detection tests of eye diseases through a simple and painless technique called elastography.
Why is this advance important?More than half of people with type 2 diabetes suffer from liver disease, a condition that generally goes unnoticed in their early stages due to lack of symptoms.If it is not diagnosed in time, it can evolve towards more serious problems, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.
A combined screening: ocular and liver health
In Sweden, patients with type 2 diabetes already participate in an established retinal exploration program to detect eye damage related to their condition.This new approach proposes to add a liver exam with elastography, a technique that uses ultrasound and lasts between 5 and 10 minutes, taking advantage of the same medical visit.
According to Professor Hannes Hagström, of the Karolinska Institute, this strategy would allow "killing two bird birds" by identifying both eye and liver damage in its early stages.In addition, the study results show that most patients are open to this proposal: 77% of the participants in the study agreed to perform both tests.
Of the patients who underwent elastography, 15.8% presented signs of liver fibrosis, although after more precise evaluations, these figures fell to 7.4% for initial fibrosis and 2.9% for advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis.Some false positives are attributed to the lack of previous fasting, something that will be taken into account in future analysis.
The next step will be to analyze whether this combined strategy is viable from an economic point of view to implement it on a large scale.However, what is clear is that this approach has the potential to prevent serious complications and improve the quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes.
We celebrate this type of advances that integrate prevention and treatment.These studies reinforce the importance of a comprehensive approach in diabetes management, considering not only glucose, but also possible effects on key organs such as liver.
What do you think about this combined detection proposal?
Do you think a good idea to take advantage of eye tests to include the detection of liver diseases?