Kaisar Ahmad Malla
You have fatty liver grade-1. It is common, everyone has it. Nothing to worry about. These are the words I hear again and again in hospitals, in clinics and even at home. As a health worker, I have watched people take these words as a comfort, when in reality they are a dangerous excuse. We are facing a tragedy in Kashmir that is not visible on the surface, but it is spreading silently inside almost every family. A young man in his twenties feels tired all the time. A mother complains of pain in her side but brushes it off as weakness. An elderly father loses his appetite and grows weaker each day. Families think it is stress, overwork or age. But it is not stress, overwork or age, it is a silent disease slowly eating away at their health. That enemy is fatty liver disease. Once a rare diagnosis, now it has become a common story in our Valley. Fatty liver is no longer a rare condition, it has become a household disease and yet we continue to brush it aside as if it is nothing.
The bitter truth
Studies show that nearly one in three Kashmiris has fatty liver and the numbers are rising fast, especially among the young. More and more people in their twenties and thirties, who should be in the best years of life, are being diagnosed with this disease. I have seen it in my own family, in my neighborhood and in hundreds of patients who come to hospitals. The shocking part is not just the numbers, but the way we as a society have accepted it as ‘normal’.
Our lifestyle has changed completely in just one generation. Where our elders walked long distances, worked in fields, ate simple food and lived active lives, today we live with screens in our hands, cars at our doors and heavy plates at our tables. We have become dhaba lovers, eating oily, spicy food almost daily. We are drowning ourselves in endless cups of tea with spoons of sugar. Our children grow up on chips, ice creams, bakery and fizzy drinks instead of fruits and vegetables. We have replaced traditional, balanced eating with junk food that slowly poisons us and exercise, which was once naturally part of our lives, has disappeared. This shift in lifestyle is not only creating fatty liver but also opening the doors to diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure and even cancer.
Wazwan, Once a symbol of our culture, it has now silently become a symbol of our health crisis. A single Kashmiri wedding can serve enough calories to last for days and yet we eat it as if our lives depend on it. Our elders lived lives of hard work, walking miles and burning every extra calorie. But we, who spend our days sitting, staring at screens and barely moving are stuffing our bodies with food that our liver cannot handle. We say without Wazwan, life has no taste, but the truth is without health, life has no meaning. If we do not change, the very culture we are proud of will leave us weak, sick and broken. People think fatty liver means nothing because it does not hurt in the beginning. But what they do not know is that it silently damages the liver and by the time symptoms appear, it is often too late. The cost of treatment, like liver transplant, is beyond the reach of ordinary Kashmiri families. I have seen the pain of families who discover the seriousness only when it has reached the final stage. By then, the tragedy has already struck.
Fatty liver can be avoided and in the early stages, it can even be reversed. This is where hope lies, if only we are ready to change. The first step is food—cut down on fried, oily meals and sweets. Say no to too much sugar in tea, to daily bakery and confectionery, to cold drinks and junk food. Instead, eat more fruits, vegetables, pulses, fish and home cooked simple meals. The second step is movement, walk daily, even if it is just 30 minutes. Use stairs instead of lifts. Play with your children outside. Let exercise become part of your life again. The third step is weight. Losing even 5 to 10 kilos can reduce liver fat and give your body a fresh chance. And lastly, avoid alcohol completely, as it directly damages the liver. These small steps, if taken with consistency, can stop fatty liver in its tracks and even reverse it in its early stages.
As a society, we cannot continue to look away. This is not just a personal issue, it is a public health emergency. Fatty liver is everywhere, in every mohalla, in every family. And if we do not act now, it will weaken our generation and the generations to come. We need awareness, we need open conversations and we need the courage to change our habits. Health is not just about hospitals and medicines, it begins at home, in the food we eat, the way we move and the choices we make every day.
I say this not just as a health worker, but as someone who has seen it with my own eyes, fatty liver is eating away at the strength of our people. It is not common, it is not normal, it is not something to ignore. It is a warning and we must take it seriously before it is too late.
Let us remember, the body is an amanah (a trust) from Allah and we will be asked how we cared for it. To neglect it is not just a health mistake, but a moral one.
(The author is a health worker and can be reached at [email protected])
