The test is now available at SRL centres pan India
SRL Diagnostics has launched a blood-based test which can detect liver fibrosis caused due to non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is a condition where excess fat accumulates in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol or do not have any viral or genetic cause of liver disease. The test is now available at SRL centres pan India.
It is reported that, 20-30 per cent Indians in urban areas and eight per cent Indians in rural areas have NAFLD. Also, 75 per cent of people suffering from diabetes and 50 per cent of people with hypercholesterolemia have NAFLD. People who have Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, presence of insulin resistance, polycystic ovarian disease in their body and are obese are particularly prone to develop NAFLD.
A company release states that the major advantage of this test is high accuracy to diagnose the stage of fibrosis and also quantify it in patients of NAFLD. The test requires few millilitres of blood to perform the investigations.
Dr BR Das President-Research & Innovation, Mentor-Molecular Pathology and Clinical Research Services, SRL says, “Commonly, NAFLD is diagnosed incidentally as more than half of the patients are asymptomatic. Although ultrasound tests are available to assess liver condition, it can only detect fatty liver and to assess liver fibrosis, the invasive liver biopsy has been the test of choice. With the introduction of this blood test, checking for liver fibrosis and assessing its stage become easy. Although NAFLD is more common in subjects with obesity and diabetes mellitus, it does occur in lean and non-diabetic individuals. Moreover, it is important to get screened for this condition because there is eight times higher risk of death due to liver diseases and two times higher risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases.”