Liver Health UK commits to support pioneering Bio-Artificial Liver Machine

New food and drink company, Liver Health UK, has partnered with The Liver Group Charity to tackle the increasing levels of non-alcoholic related liver disease in the UK and fund vital research into the development of a Bio-Artificial Liver Machine.

The company will donate a portion of its sales to the medical research charity which is focused on the development of a Bio-Artificial Liver Machine that will prove as important to the treatment of liver disease as kidney dialysis is to those with kidney failure.

A Bio-Artificial Liver Machine will enable patients with liver failure to be treated for several days, taking their blood, and passing it through the machine of liver cells, returning the ‘cleaned’ blood to the patient. This process allows the ‘real’ liver a few days necessary rest to heal itself while the machine does all the work.

Liver disease is one of the fastest growing health issues in the UK with one in three estimated to be living with a non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD). With no definitive cure, the development of a Bio-Artificial Liver Machine and the introduction of preventative measures, such as small lifestyle and diet changes remain the best course of action.

Asanka De Silva, CEO of Liver Health UK, said: “Our partnership with The Liver Group Charity is all about funding research and development to improve the lives of those suffering from liver disease. Currently, 80% of people living in the UK with acute liver failure will die without a transplant.”

“The team at The Liver Group Charity is already making significant advances towards a Bio-Artificial Liver Machine which will help those living with the disease. Our aim is to see an increase in the awareness of people’s liver health and a reduction in non-alcohol fatty liver disease cases in the UK.”

Professor Humphrey Hodgson, Chairman and Trustee of The Liver Group Charity, said: “Only two in every three people on the liver transplant list in the UK get a new liver on time and with no current cure for liver disease it is imperative that we continue with our research and development of a Bio-Artificial Liver Machine.”

“The liver is a unique organ that has the remarkable capacity to re-grow itself after acute damage. The difficulty in replacing the liver artificially, is that the liver performs a myriad of duties to keep us alive, but researchers have found a new way of growing human liver cells outside of the body which is how we envisage the Bio-Artificial Liver Machine will work, hopefully in the near future.

“The partnership with Liver Health UK allows the Liver Group Charity to continue funding research, development and testing to ensure we reach our end goal and improve the lives of those living with liver disease.”

Established in 2016, Liver Health UK is a business with a social cause that has been created to tackle liver disease on three fronts – creating preventative consumer products, educating the public about the dangers of liver disease, and donating a portion of its sales to fund liver disease research in the UK.

For more information on Liver Health UK visit www.liverhealth.co.uk or for further information on The Liver Group Charity and its work, please check http://www.ucl.ac.uk/livergroup/index.html

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