American Liver Foundation to sponsor program

As a service to the community, the Missouri Chapter of the American Liver Foundation is sponsoring a "Liver Update,",an education seminar for anyone interested in learning more about hepatitis and other liver diseases. The seminar is Nov. 20 from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the Franciscan Conference Room at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. This program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Advance registration is preferred.

The program is offered several times a year across the state as part of the American Liver Foundation's mission to provide educate opportunities to anyone interested in learning more about liver disease, particularly patients and their family members.

Scheduled topics and speakers include:

-- Hepatitis C-- presented by Jeffrey Crippin, MD, Washington University School of Medicine.

-- Living with Hepatitis C-- presented by Josie Haaga, RN, co-leader of EASE Hep C Support Group.

This year alone, hepatitis C it will kill nearly 25,000 people -- four times the number of people who will die from AIDS. Called the "silent epidemic" by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood born virus in the United States, attacking the liver and other parts of the body.

More than 4,000,000 (or 1 in 50) Americans carry the virus, yet nearly 70 percent of them don't even know they are infected. Each year, nearly 40,000 new cases of hepatitis C are diagnosed. According to the Center for Disease Control the death rate from hepatitis C in the next 20 years is expected to triple.

The American Liver Foundation is a national, voluntary, health organization dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of hepatitis and other liver diseases through research, education and advocacy.

For more information or to register, contact the American Liver Foundation at 1-866-455-4837.