Patna, Nov. 10: A Hyderabad-based hospital specialising in organ transplantation today announced the setting up of an information centre in the city to counsel liver ailment patients.

“The number of patients coming to our hospitals in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai from eastern India has gone up by a huge number. Keeping this in mind, we decided to open a counselling centre in Patna,” distinguished hepatologist Dr Dharmesh Kumar, who is associated with Global Hospitals Group, said here today. “Experts from our hospitals will visit the centre and counsel patients suffering from liver diseases, particularly those who need liver transplantations,” he said during a news meet.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey pledged all assistance to the hospital in its bid to set up units in the state. He said: “They can either set up their own hospital or tie up with any of our institutions. This will benefit a large number of people suffering from liver ailments, who have to go outside the state for specialised treatments.”

Dr Kapur emphasised on the need to have a well-balanced diet that should be low on fat, cholesterol and high on sodium and protein for a healthy liver. “Junk food and sedentary lifestyle harm the liver a lot. Regular aerobic exercise is a must for keeping one’s liver healthy,” he added.

The hepatologist said symptoms of liver ailments include fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and jaundice. “Liver transplantation is done only in cases of severe cirrhosis, acute liver failure and liver cancer. At our centre, the success rate of the surgery, which costs about Rs 15-17 lakh in case of an adult patient, is about 92 per cent,” he added.