By Derek Cornet

Liver screening event looking for undiagnosed hepatitis cases

Apr 17, 2018 | 5:00 PM

People lined up this morning at the La Ronge Health Centre to participate in a special liver screening.   

The event was led by Hepatitis C treatment support nurse Lesley Gallagher, who said the program is currently being rolled out in northern Saskatchewan. Aside from detecting Hepatitis C, she said the two-day clinic acts as a point of care to get quick results in regards to other infectious diseases as well, because blood testing is also offered. Gallagher brought a Fibroscan machine to La Ronge, one of only two in the province, in order to do more thorough examinations.

“This is a machine used to test the fibrosis, or scar tissue, which may have built up in the liver for various reasons,” she said. “At one time, treatment for Hepatitis C was very limited to people who had some damage in their liver, which is why the Fibroscan is so important.”

Gallagher said it’s particularly important to screen for Hepatitis C, because the disease is very difficult to detect by simply observing signs and symptoms. It’s only after a longer period of time with virus when it begins to damage the liver, she said, and if left undiagnosed it can lead to cancer, cardiovascular issues and affect the blood-sugar metabolism. The Fibroscan device measures the level of scar tissue in the liver, leading to earlier detection.

In Canada there are up to 175,000 people living with Hepatitis C who are unaware of it, Gallagher noted. A cure is readily available for 97 per cent of those diagnosed, she said, and the treatment is non-invasive, requiring only one pill per day for three months with virtually no side effects.

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“Almost 50 per cent of the people who are on a liver transplant list are there because of untreated or undiagnosed Hepatitis C,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher has been working on outreach projects to bring better health care to more rural parts of the province since 2013. She said the events have been successful because people don’t have to go to big urban centres for the screening, which sometimes allows cases to go unnoticed. She also invited anyone wishing to have their liver tested tomorrow to visit the former Sarcan building between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno