How healthy is your liver?

October marks National Liver Health Awareness Month in the United States. The liver is an important organ that cleanses toxins, produces energy and aids with digestion.

University of Minnesota Medical School expert Nicholas Lim, MD, speaks about the importance of liver health and the increasing incidence of alcohol-related liver disease in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nicholas Lim, MD

"The incidence of alcohol-related liver disease was already on the rise before the pandemic. Now, alcohol-related liver disease is the leading reason for liver transplantation in the United States. This comes at a time where there are more people needing a liver transplant than there are available livers. Awareness of healthy alcohol use — and more importantly, getting help for the causes of unhealthy alcohol use — is critical right now."

"Good liver health is about more than alcohol consumption. With the obesity epidemic, fatty liver disease is now the most common cause of liver disease in the United States. Maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular exercise is just as important for your liver as the rest of your body and in the majority of cases can lead to full resolution of fatty liver disease."

Contact

Nicholas Lim, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Email: [email protected]

Download a high resolution photo of Dr. Lim

Dr. Nicholas Lim is a board-certified gastroenterologist and transplant hepatologist at the U of M Medical School and M Health Fairview. He is active with the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the American Society of Transplantation. His clinical and research interests include cirrhosis, portal hypertension and liver transplantation. Dr. Lim also serves as Program Director for the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship training program at the University of Minnesota. 

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The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.