Jigar In Trouble: Why So Many Kashmiris Are Getting Fatty Liver Disease

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
Representational Photo

By Ayan Wani

Disease often comes silently in Kashmir. There are no sirens, no symptoms, no urgent warnings. You feel fine, until you don't.

That's how fatty liver works. And right now, it's working fast.

Doctors in Srinagar are seeing it more than ever, in housewives, government employees, university students.

People walk into clinics with a stomachache or fatigue and leave with a diagnosis they've never heard of. Some don't believe it. Others nod and go home. They think:“At least it's not cancer.” But it could be, one day.

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The official term is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. It happens when fat builds up in the liver, even in people who don't drink.

At first, it's harmless. Then it turns into inflammation. Then scarring. Then, for some, liver failure. For others, cancer. There's no drama to it. Just slow, irreversible damage.

The rise in Kashmir is hard to quantify. There's no statewide study. But ask any lab technician in the Valley and they'll tell you the same thing: it's showing up on scans more than ever. At times, multiple cases a day. Often in people under 40.

The causes aren't mysterious. A sharp drop in physical activity. Processed food everywhere. A culture that prizes heavy meals and dismisses moderation.

Wedding feasts here involve twelve-course wazwan platters, thick with mutton and ghee. School kids gulp soda between tuition sessions. Working adults skip breakfast and eat greasy late-night dinners.

When doctors say“change your lifestyle,” they're talking about all of this.

But it's not just food and exercise. Kashmir is a place that lives under pressure. Conflict, economic anxiety, joblessness and uncertainty don't just stay in the head. Chronic stress changes the body. It slows metabolism, raises blood sugar, fuels weight gain. Researchers believe it can worsen liver health, too.

Some of it may be in the genes. Studies suggest certain populations, including South Asians, have a higher genetic risk for NAFLD.

That could explain why some people here get the disease even if they don't look overweight or eat poorly.

The bigger issue is invisibility. Fatty liver doesn't cause pain. You don't wake up with a fever. Most people never get tested unless they're undergoing a check-up for something else.

There are no awareness posters in hospitals. No school programs. No national health campaigns. Some doctors don't catch it early. Many patients don't know what it means when they do.

And when symptoms do show up - tiredness, bloating, trouble concentrating - they're easy to brush off. You blame the weather. Or stress. Or age.

All of this makes NAFLD a slow-moving epidemic, hidden in plain sight. It's costing lives and piling up pressure on a healthcare system already stretched thin.

Liver specialists are few. Ultrasound machines aren't always available in rural clinics. Diet counseling is rare. Most of the time, even when people get a diagnosis, they're told to go home and eat better. With what help?

It doesn't have to be this way. Liver function tests are simple and cheap. A routine ultrasound can catch the problem early.

Schools could talk about it in health classes. Local leaders - doctors, clerics, even celebrities - could warn people that this isn't just about overeating. It's about survival.

• Author is a medical laboratory technologist and a recent graduate from the University of Kashmir.

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