NATIONAL LIVER AWARENESS MONTH
2024
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, an estimated 100 million Americans are affected by liver disease, and most people are unaware that the risk factors for liver disease include diabetes, heart disease, and obesity; and
WHEREAS, there are over 100 types of liver diseases and conditions, with the most common being hepatitis viruses, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) – also called metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease or MASLD, autoimmune and rare diseases, genetic conditions, alcohol-associated liver disease, liver cancer, and pediatric liver diseases; and
WHEREAS, liver disease can be caused by three different factors – genetics, lifestyle, or environmental toxins; genetic factors can increase your risk of certain liver diseases like Alpha-1, Wilson disease, Gilbert syndrome, autoimmune hepatitis, and more; and
WHEREAS, diet and lifestyle play a role in our liver health; exposure to hazardous chemicals, pollution, and pesticides can add up over your lifetime to increase your risk of liver disease; and
WHEREAS, NAFLD causes excess fat to build up in the liver; research estimates that fatty liver disease is present in up to 75 percent of overweight people and in more than 90 percent of people with severe obesity; and
WHEREAS, NAFLD has become the most common form of childhood liver disease in the U.S., more than doubling over the past 20 years; and
WHEREAS, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), also called metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis or MASH, is a dangerously progressive form of NAFLD in which patients have inflammation of the liver and liver damage, in addition to excess fat; NASH is a leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States; and
WHEREAS, it is critical that attention be brought to this often-overlooked health crisis, and the State of North Carolina encourages everyone to participate in raising awareness of liver disease;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October, 2024, as “NATIONAL LIVER AWARENESS MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
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Roy Cooper
Governor
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.