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| World champion victorious in battle against liver disease |
02 December 2008 @17:14:35 |
Former world darts champion Andy Fordham has beaten the odds in his fight against liver disease, his doctors confirmed yesterday (1 December 2008). Through making massive changes to his lifestyle, losing 17 stone and giving up alcohol completely, his liver has recovered enough to make a liver transplant unnecessary at this time.
The national charity for liver patients, the British Liver Trust, has hailed Andy’s achievement as an inspiration to people committed to improving their health. Chief Executive Alison Rogers said:
“Andy’s achievement is an inspiration. It shows that you can change your health through your own personal action. It takes a huge commitment to make lifestyle measures that can have a sustained impact on your health and can be incredibly difficult."
Leading liver physician Professor Roger Williams CBE who looked after George Best commented: “I have seen just how hard it is, even for people in the public eye, to turn around their liver disease and access treatment for alcohol problems. I am delighted that Andy Fordham is sharing his experience to raise awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking and the progressive damage alcohol is inflicting on the nation’s livers.”
Alison Rogers continued: “Having a liver transplant is a very serious operation and results in a lifetime need for medical care and anti-rejection drugs. For this reason, as well as the severe shortage of donor organs, it is excellent if people can rescue their health to the extent that they don’t need a transplant."
Andy is an excellent role model, managing to change from being an overweight heavy drinker who risked his health, to someone rescued from the brink of disability and death by his own determination to take positive action.
“We hope this will inspire other people to look at how much they’re drinking and to talk to their GPs about whether their livers are at risk. Sadly, most people only hear they have a liver problem when the damage is already done. You can’t rely on being able to save your health at a late stage. One in four people don’t survive their first hospital admission, and many people die each year waiting for a transplant, or are too ill to even be considered for one.”
Doctors only agree for a patient to go on the transplant list if they are so severely ill that they are likely to die within a short space of time (around a year) or be unable to live with a reasonable quality of life. Andy was so ill he was not just on the transplant list but had already been scheduled for an operation, which did not take place due to problems with the donor liver.
It is very unusual for a patient to be able to improve their health sufficiently that they are taken off the transplant list. Usually, there is no prospect of recovery without transplant for people considered ill enough for transplant. The dramatic improvement in Andy’s health has been a result of continuous efforts to lose weight, exercise and follow medical advice on self-care, and has proved unusually effective. The British Liver Trust would like to congratulate Andy, his family and the medical team at King’s who have worked so hard to improve his health.
Ends
For further information please contact:
Imogen Shillito or Sonia Aarons
Phone: 01425 481 320
Out of hours: 07779 623 602
Email: sonia.aarons@britishlivertrust.org.uk
Web: www.britishlivertrust.org.uk
For media bids for interviews with Andy or photographs, please contact Steve Mottishead at SJ Sport and Media on
Phone: 07887 853 459
Email: steve@sjsportmedia.co.uk
Media enquiries for the medical team should be directed to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on 020 3299 3006
Editor’s Note:
1. Patients may need a liver transplant if they suffer severe liver scarring, called cirrhosis, or liver cancer. There are strict criteria on which patients can be offered a liver transplant, so that the limited supply of donor livers is allocated to patients in most need and who have a good chance of recovering and living for at least five years with their new liver. People who have damaged their liver through alcohol must pass a period of complete abstinence for at least six months before they are considered suitable for transplant. This is to see if lifestyle measures alone are likely to be effective. As a result, patients on the transplant list rarely make ‘spontaneous’ recoveries as a result of further work on their lifestyles alone.
2. Andy lost 17 stone in weight in the less than two year period since he became ill. He used to consume on average 20-30 bottles of lager a day or 7 or 8 bottles of wine plus spirits. He was first diagnosed with liver problems after a dramatic collapse, 15 minutes before he was due to play his 1st round match live on BBC2 at the 2007 Lakeside World Championships in January of that year. He was rushed to hospital and subsequently had 16 litres of fluid drained from his lungs and suffered a minor stroke, from which he has made a full recovery. He was rushed to Kings College Hospital in October 2008 to receive a liver transplant, but just as the nurse was about to put the drip in his arm to put him to sleep for the operation, they assessed the donated liver as not being a suitable match, and he was sent home to wait for a more suitable liver. With Andy’s health improving, he is now going to try and attempt to resume his Darts career and next Friday 5th Dec he will be in Bridlington attempting to qualify for the World Masters which will be on BBC TV over that weekend.
3. People with liver scarring or cirrhosis can experience a variety of health problems without a liver transplant. If the liver is severely damaged and not able to fulfil all of its normal functions, people can experience health effects such as fatigue, fluid retention, infections, appetite changes and bleeding. Symptoms may fluctuate. There can be serious consequences (including death) of putting further strain on the liver with alcohol or other abuse, and patients are also at risk of developing liver cancer.
4. The British Liver Trust is Britain’s only national liver disease charity for adults. We work to improve the lives of people suffering from liver disease with key roles in education, support and research.
5. Liver disease is one of the UK’s five ‘big killers’ and the only one on the rise. The Trust is working urgently to encourage prevention and investment in treatment and care for people with liver disease. Much of the increasing incidence of liver disease stems from lifestyle trends – relating to alcohol, obesity and viral hepatitis. However, liver disease has many other causes including genetics, abnormalities in the immune system and even the medicines we take. The Trust is working to raise awareness about the liver and combat the stigma associated with liver disease.
6. The Trust provides a comprehensive website www.britishlivertrust.org.uk, free medical helpline – 0800 652 7330, and distributes a wide range of information leaflets to individuals and healthcare professionals. In addition, the Trust is a contact point for support groups nationwide, as well as coordinating funding and providing support for research. |
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