Mercy Liver Health Expert Dr. Hwan Yoo Discusses Non-alcohol Related Liver Disease and Its Treatment

Many people don't think about taking care of their livers because liver disease is often associated with alcohol. But liver disease can hit anyone for different reasons.

“My main concern was, am I going to die from it?” That was Barbara Cureton’s reaction when she discovered she had Hepatitis C. Her liver was in bad shape, which was surprising news to her.

“I don’t have any illness form it. I can’t tell if I’m getting better. I didn’t even know I had it,” she said.

That can happen with Hepatitis C, and other non-alcohol related liver diseases. 

“It is a silent disease,” explains Dr. Hwan Yoo, an experienced liver specialist at The Center for Liver and Hepatobiliary Diseases, part of The Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health and Liver Disease at Mercy in Baltimore, MD. “The liver is a faithful organ and it has a regenerative capacity.”

According to Dr. Yoo, the liver not only acts as a filter for the blood, but produces hormones, stores and energy and makes compounds that allow one to digest food.

“There’s always hope, that we have some way to improve one’s health and life,” Dr. Yoo said. Ms. Cureton feels that way. She is almost finished with her drug treatment therapy that has been successful for patients with Hepatitis C. 

“It would all be over in three months, and I would have a ‘brand new’ liver,” she said. 

Board Certified in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Dr. Yoo diagnoses acute and chronic liver disorders and offers some of the best advanced therapies as treatment options. He works individually with his patients to best manage their liver disease through innovative pill therapy that combines various medication types.

To view Dr. Yoo’s interview regarding treatment of non-alcohol related liver disease, click here.