Have your liver tested for free: especially the bon vivant of 45-plus (with cheeses and wines) is an important target group

« We stand in line in front of the queue, » says Corrie Lagerberg (63), standing behind a black ribbon. On the other side of that ribbon is still a row. In addition, a sign: from here it is 3 hours. They will be next today.

At the RAI in Amsterdam, people can have their liver tested for free this week and without an appointment. The promotion is part of the doctor’s congress of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) that takes place simultaneously in the RAI. In a small wooden house – three in total – a liver test takes no more than ten minutes. The transfer is less smooth. Anyone who stands here at ten in the morning is expected to be the turn of the end of the day – about two hundred people could be tested on Wednesday. And that while food was no longer allowed four hours before the scan. « We are all dizzy here, » a man shouts. « Chairs to sit on had not been a superfluous luxury. »

It is estimated that around four million Dutch people have a replaced liver, according to figures from the MDL Fund. Often without knowing it, because replacement does not cause any complaints. The risk factors? Among other things too much alcohol, overweight, increased cholesterol and sitting still behind computer and telephone screens. Once symptoms such as a belly full of moisture or yellow sight occur, they are often the result of liver cancer or an advanced disease involving the liver (cirrhosis). On average, people walk around for fifteen to twenty years with a replaced liver before they get complaints. MDL doctors therefore emphasize the importance of early detection. This can, if followed by a healthier lifestyle, reduce liver fat and therefore prevent many liver diseases.

Lifestyle change

Both rows are a procession that is just as diverse as the Amsterdam population: conversations in all kinds of languages, yuppen and walking sticks. A slender, young woman came from Utrecht because her grandfather had liver problems, and she wants herself to be tested. MDL-Arts Hanneke van Soest, working in the Haaglanden Medical Center, says that with their action the doctors reach a broad group of people for whom lifestyle change is desperately needed. “An important target group is the bon vivant of 45-plus. Cheese, wines. For example, watch TV program Gooische Women. The bottle of wine is already on the table at noon.  »

According to the Trimbos Institute, highly educated (HBO and WO) drink the most often and adhere to the guideline drawn up by the Health Council (a maximum of one glass of alcohol per day). Van Soest regularly sees labor migrants, but also relatively many prosperous patients. She remembers a successful businessman, used to first -class flights and extensive business lunches. « When he entered the plane, his drinks were already ready. I did not know what that did with his liver. »

‘Degree of increases’

Basic doctor Iris de Jong performs a fibroscan in one of the houses. The woman who’s turn lifts her shirt up while De Jong places a device just under her ribs. That sends inaudible sound waves into the liver. How quickly those waves can be back, says something about the elasticity of the organ and thus about the degree of increases. The stiffer the liver, the more damage.

MDL-Arts Hanneke van Soest, working in the Haaglanden Medical Center, has set up the free liver test together with a colleague.

Photo Ruchama van der Tas

On one whiteboard The doctor has drawn a simple diagram: blue is the liver, red the intestines, black arrows indicate blood flow. « Liver fat ensures that the blood, which is normally stripped of toxins by the liver, flows through it more difficult, » she explains. At a later stage, liver cells are replaced by connective tissue and scars arise. The liver loses its function. She paints an image: blood accumulates in the veins around the liver, which can lead to varicose veins in the esophagus and stomach – with the risk of life -threatening bleeding. At the final stage, detoxification is no longer possible, and toxins accumulate in the body. « They can also affect the brain. »

Ensure higher prices, abolish alcohol advertisements

Outside it is a man’s turn for his test. He doesn’t want his name in the newspaper. « Then I will be hoisting in the pub (drink) next time, someone comes to me: ‘What are you doing? You stood in NRC. Note your liver, man! ‘”

She comes across from Soest more often: people who don’t want their drinks to be torn. « Do not interfere with it, » is a regularly heard reaction. She knows that it makes little sense to point out as a doctor or worried bystander « then people will resist. » Instead of individual warnings, she argues for national measures. « Provide higher prices, abolishing alcohol advertisements, » she suggests.

She believes that the government should act in a similar way as with the anti -smoking campaigns. In the seventies there were trays ready at parties with a choice of different brands of cigarettes, she says. « Now people are smoking somewhere outside in a corner. » According to her, we should get rid of the idea that alcohol is naturally, and that social moments without drinks would be boring. « After the football match there is no automatic beer on the table. Spa Rood is also possible. »

A little after an hour a woman from the organization appears next to the growing row on the wrong side of the black ribbon. « You can connect, but the chance is nil that it will be your turn today, » she shouts. « What a shit. You pay your train ticket for that! » Sounds there. « What time do we have to come back? » Asks for another. « The first people were there at seven o’clock in the morning, » says the woman of the organization. « DamnSomeone shouts. « Well, try again tomorrow. »

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