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NO week
passes in this town without some special event being
held at one of the top party places. It may be for a new
facial cream that “can replace even my expensive brands”
or the latest cell phone with so many features, it may
take a rocket scientist to make full use of all of them,
or the launch of yet another condominium building that
promises an overcrowded city a life of luxury in pigeon
holes. The best attended are invariably the ones
sponsored by wine distributors. No need to raffle off
expensive prizes or lay out a sumptuous buffet to get a
good attendance. The hosts just have to keep pouring the
bubbly or the firewater flowing and everybody comes and
goes home happy.
Through
the years more and more Filipinos have developed a taste
for fine wines and spirits. It shows with the increase
in the number of wine shops and distributors, the
frequent visits from the heirs of famous vineyards
abroad and regional heads of old name liquor brands. It
started with a change in the area size a grocery
dedicated to its wine cellar—from a one-shelf affair to
a corner of the store to a section all its own.
But to
every upside there is a downside. What impact has this
euphoric state of libation had on the health of
Filipinos?
The
Louie Tabuena Liver Foundation has embarked on a crusade
to inform us about what we need to know about our liver
and the dreaded “C” word; in particular, liver cancer.
When I
received the announcement that there would be a medical
forum sponsored by the LT Liver Foundation at the Manila
Polo Club, I was determined to attend. My surprise was
that I could not get a single vodka-loving friend to
join me. They all said, “You must be joking,” and adding
blithely, “just tell us all about it!”
Aside
from the fact that most of us would rather not know the
true state of our health—or rather “un-health”—this is
one piece of information that not only hypochondriacs
should remember: the liver is the most deceiving organ.
It gives no sign that there is something wrong with it.
One feels no pain. A liver ailment shows only through a
proper blood test. The Tabuenas invited Dr. Desmond Wai
(a lot of medical acronyms follow his name—MBBS, MRCP,
MMED) to be the guest speaker.
Dr. Wai
is from
Singapore
and is a consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist
for the Asian Center for Liver Disease and
Transplantation of Gleaneagles Hospital. A calling card
like his would scare anyone who doesn’t want to know.
But this
doctor, for all his titles and achievements, is not
scary. As a matter of fact, he looks like any pleasant
mannered young man who just graduated from medical
school. It is what he had to say that was, in a way,
scary.
We come
to the question of whether it is better to know or not
know. Consider Louie Tabuena, who died at the age of 78
of liver cancer, though he never drank alcohol, did not
smoke, had regular executive checkups, and was an
athlete in his youth. Why did he get liver cancer? And
by the time they diagnosed him, his cancer was far
advanced and his case was terminal.
For my
uncle, Tony Ayala, it was the same. He lived what we
call a “squeaky-clean” life. He was not as lucky as
Louie Tabuena. He died at 41. He got cirrhosis of the
liver, which became cancer. He was at the peak of a
bright banking career.
We all
wonder why it happens even to those who don’t drink—what
causes the liver to get sick? Many of our questions
remained unanswered. What we know now is that this has
become the No. 2 killer among Filipino men, the top spot
occupied by lung cancer. For women, next to breast
cancer, it is colon cancer.
Dr. Wai
explained why our liver is so important. It produces
albumin and protein and bile, which helps break down the
chemicals that get into our body. It produces antibodies
which act as “detox” agents. It is also where excess
carbohydrates and fats are stored. In a sense, it is
like a tireless robotic housekeeper that sweeps away,
cleans or sorts things out and stores them properly. But
when it starts to sputter and fail, disorder follows and
the whole house eventually becomes a shambles.
What are
some liver diseases? Most of us know about hepatitis.
But did you know that aside from A and B, there is also
C and E?
The most
disgusting thing about hepatitis A is not that you turn
yellow along with your eyes but that it is transmitted
through the “fecal-oral” route. In other words, you have
been eating in places where they can’t tell the
difference between the kitchen sink and the toilet.
Before you think that lack of hygiene is limited to back
alleys and holes in the wall in the poor parts of town,
think again before you put that fork of salad Nicoise,
hand-prepared by Chef Susyo, into your mouth. Did Chef
wash his hands thoroughly after he answered a call of
nature?
Hepatitis B, on the other hand, is transmitted from a
mother to her baby. Many people in Asia get it from
their parents. It can also be transmitted in sexual
encounters. We should religiously vaccinate our babies
and ourselves against hepa B because it can strike from
anywhere. A hepa B carrier betrays no symptoms. It is
detected only through blood screening. Though it is not
immediately life-threatening, it should not be taken
lightly because hepa B can lead to cirrhosis or liver
cancer.
Another
kind of hepatitis is quite rare here. One gets it not so
much from sex but from blood transfusion. It is also
transmitted through injections with contaminated
needles. Hepatitis C is high in the United States but is
most prevalent in Egypt. It seems ironic that a
superpower and the country that received tens of
billions of dollars of foreign aid from it should both
be afflicted by the same disease of poverty.
But
Egypt has the excuse of a parasite that is as common to
it as cockroaches are to the Philippines. The way to
kill the parasite is through injections. Unfortunately,
one syringe is used to treat an entire village. The
US
doesn’t have the same excuse.
Hepatitis E is also rare in the Philippines (thank
God!). It is common in China, India and the Middle East.
The transmittal is similar to hepa A: bad personal
hygiene.
Fatty
liver is another executive checkup result that makes one
wonder, but stops one from asking too many questions for
fear it will lead to bad news. Well, the good news—if
one could call it that—is that it is also known as the
disease of the wealthy (tip for those who carry social
ladders on their backs: here’s a new disease to brag
about). The bad news is that it comes about the same way
foie gras is made. Except unlike the goose that is
force-fed, people with fatty liver stuffed themselves
until they got sick.
Though
this is more common in developed countries, 20 percent
of Asians have fatty liver. This is associated with
diabetes, high-blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity.
And if you have none of these, then I guess it just
might be a simple case of constantly elevated alcohol
level.
The
liver, as mentioned earlier, stores all excessive
calories and fats; so too much of the good life means
having a fat and inflamed liver. In your blood test, it
is an elevated SGPT and SGOT that are your red flags.
You know
you need to check your liver when you feel tired all the
time, you are slightly yellow (and it’s not because you
have, as President Ramos’s National Security Adviser
used to say, a monosyllabic name), you are losing weight
without trying, your tummy is always bloated indicating
low albumin, your legs easily get swollen, or you are
often confused. Does this sound like a description of
your husband?
Before
we all get depressed and stop subscribing to this paper,
Dr. Wai said that the liver is a wonder organ. It can
regenerate. People are known to survive with just half a
liver.
Of
course, it isn’t that simple. A liver transplant is a
delicate operation. But the procedure is highly
developed. Dr. Wai belongs to a team of doctors. They
all attend to the patient. And some Filipino doctors who
have trained under them in
Singapore are
back here in the Philippines.
What
were Dr. Wai’s words of wisdom? If you want to
strengthen your liver, have regular vaccinations for
hepa A and B, don’t drink alcohol every day, have a
healthy diet.
If you
wonder about my vodka-loving friends who were too
chicken to come to the lecture with me, I have not heard
from them since. Perhaps they know I am not going to
spare them the gory details. But I understand them.
After all, the only surprise anyone really enjoys is
winning the sweepstakes. I don’t regret spending a
morning with Dr. Wai. I am grateful to Tere Tabuena del
Rosario and her mom, Tita Conchita, and the other
members of the family for inviting him over.
The
memory of Louie Tabuena lives on because his family
continues to work so that people who suffer from liver
disease may finally come to know it, and those of them
who need treatment can be helped to get it. All thanks
to a foundation named after a good man.
****
For those interested to find out more or to help, the
Louie Tabuena Liver Foundation is at 29 Cairo Street,
Parañaque City, Metro Manila; 820-9330, 0918-922-7102;
info@LTLiverFoundation.com. |
