S5 - E1.3 - SurfingMASH Is Back! 2024 Podcast Updates And The Increasing Need For "Liver Awareness"

Send us Fan MailAfter a month off in January, SurfingMASH returns for the 2024 calendar year. In this conversation, Louise Campbell describes how VCTE can serve as a behavioral monitor, Roger Green reviews some changes in the podcast this year and the group begins to discuss why "liver awareness" should become an important concept. As this conversation starts, a joke from Roger Green about "VCTE as lie detector" leads Louise Campbell to note that personal trainers should consider looking at "internal health" (fat in organs) instead of "external health" (general obesity). She also discusses the ability to link her digital app, MyLife365.me, to VCTE measurements.Roger Green becomes the last co-host to discuss his last couple of months. He outlines a couple of upcoming changes in the SurfingMASH podcast, including a new "Question of the Week" segment.After describing the new segment, Roger shifts the conversation to focus on some practical issues surrounding the potential for increased demand on the clinical care pathway once a MASH drug is approved. Jörn Schattenberg notes that we will need dramatic increases in provider education over time for them to step into an active role in the pathway. He believes that drug approval will speed this process.Throughout the entire episode, a question re-emerges about the goal of liver education. In the past, this podcast has discussed "liver health" and "liver wellness" as if the liver is the target and goal. In this conversation (and later in the episode) the concept of "liver awareness" bubbles up. "Liver awareness" refers to appreciation of the role the liver plays in all metabolic health.5