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Free drop-in sessions for liver health check

Emma Petrie
BBC News
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust The screen of a Fibroscan machine used to detect liver problems. The black screen is showing a range of data using numbers and graphs. The text on the screen is coloured blue and orange. The machine itself is white tablet with cables running out of it and it is standing on a light wooden table top.Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
A Fibroscan device uses ultrasound to detect scarring in the liver

Free liver checks are being offered in Scunthorpe next week to try to tackle growing cases of liver disease.

The NHS Humber Health Partnership's community liver team will be carrying out the four minute health checks to identify people with problems.

Liver disease has very few symptoms, but can be reversed if it is caught in the early stages.

The drop-in session will provide patients with instant results and will run from 09:00 to 18:00 GMT on Friday 31 January at the Ironstone Centre on West Street.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Two women sit at a table in medical uniforms with a fibroscan machine on the surface in front of them. The woman on the left of the image has dark hair in a pony tail, is wearing black framed glasses and is wearing a grey uniform. The woman on the right has light coloured hair and is wearing a blue uniform.Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Faye Coite and Beth Featherstone said the liver checks could be "a life saver"

The health check involves a Fibroscan which uses ultrasound to detect scarring to the liver and is similar in nature to a pregnancy ultrasound scan.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said the Humber region was one of 18 sites in the country to pilot the NHS Liver Health Check, based on its high levels of deprivation and poor health outcomes from liver disease.

Beth Featherstone, community liver nurse specialist, said: "People with early stage liver disease don't always know there is a problem.

"Liver disease has very few signs and symptoms to tell you something may be wrong, however there are certain factors which put some people at higher risk, for example, if you have type 2 diabetes, you have a BMI of 30 or more, you have a fatty liver, Hepatitis B or C, or if you drink more than 14 units of alcohol each week. "

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