MASH in Focus: How Patient Awareness, Clinical Empowerment, and Research Have Transformed the Field

Welcome back to another AJMC Insights series. In this episode titled, 'MASH in Focus: How Patient Awareness, Clinical Empowerment, and Research Have Transformed the Field,' Nadege Gunn, MD led the conversation about the following questions:

1. As a hepatologist, how has the MASH patient population changed over the last decade?
2. Do you feel the broader medical community has kept pace with that shift?
3. How much of your current liver disease caseload would you attribute to metabolic and obesity-driven disease versus other etiologies?

Gunn described a meaningful paradigm shift in the MASH landscape over the past decade, driven by growing patient awareness, increased empowerment of primary care clinicians to perform pre-screening and early identification, and a resurgence of clinical research interest in a disease that had previously received little attention, together creating a community of clinicians and researchers motivated to make a meaningful difference for patients living with MASH and at-risk fibrosis. She also noted, however, that while awareness has improved considerably, the medical community has not yet fully kept pace with the scale of the disease, with far too many individuals living with MASH for current efforts to adequately address the burden, indicating that significant work remains in translating awareness into widespread, systematic action.

Throughout the conversation, the experts provide a comprehensive reflection on the field and the factors that may shape how clinicians approach care moving forward.

In the next episode, 'Screening, Risk Stratification, and the Multidisciplinary Care Model for MASH,' Nadege Gunn will continue her discussion on obesity and MASH and highlight the urgency of MASH as a public health challenge for primary care physicians, the critical importance of systematic screening and risk stratification, and what the ideal multidisciplinary care model looks like for patients living with both MASH and significant obesity.