By Hong Xinyi

The experts have weighed in and the verdict is clear: If you have a beer belly, the likelihood of getting liver cancer is much higher.

That does not necessarily mean you are overweight, especially in the Asian context, says Dr Richard Guan, 58, consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre.

He will be giving a talk on the prevention and detection of liver cancer on Saturday at The Rotary Club of Pandan Valley, with Dr Karmen Wong, consultant oncologist and physician of the Karmen Wong Medical Oncology Clinic.

Many Asians have a genetic inclination to store fat in the abdomen while the rest of their bodies remain relatively normal-sized.

Want to know if you have a beer belly? Your paunch comes into this category if your belly measures over 90cm in circumference if you are a man or over 80cm if you are a woman, says Dr Guan.

What this means is that your body has a propensity for storing fat in your central organs like your liver, which amounts to 'a constant attack on your liver', he says.

In the long run, a fatty liver is more likely to become inflamed. It could then harden and deteriorate into liver cancer.

To steer clear of growing a potentially lethal beer belly, stay away from food filled with simple sugars like soft drinks, he advises.

'Simple sugars get into your system more easily resulting in fatty deposits,' he says. 'Complex carbohydrates, which are found in foods like cereals and high-fibre breads, are better because they are broken down more slowly.'

While obesity is one of the fastest-growing leading causes of liver cancer, especially in more prosperous countries, the No. 1 trigger remains chronic hepatitis B viral infection.

However, if you are a Singaporean born here after 1988, your chances of suffering from this are very slim, says Dr Guan.

'Studies were still being done on the vaccine for hepatitis B in the early 1980s and it was introduced here on a voluntary basis in 1983. Mass universal vaccination was soon recommended by 1986 and, by 1988, most newborns would have been vaccinated.'

The results are self-evident.

'Before 1983, hepatitis B carriers were more than 6 per cent of the population here throughout all age groups. Now, they are around 3 to 4 per cent of the population. Among those below 20 years old, there are no carriers,' he says.

It is a markedly lower carrier rate compared to those in neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which hover around 12 per cent of their populations, 'because their infrastructures do not allow vaccinations to happen as efficiently', Dr Guan explains.

Besides getting all the right shots, a recent study also offers a more pleasurable way of preventing liver cancer, especially if you like your cup of joe.

'Black coffee has antioxidants that seem to decrease a person's chances of getting liver cancer,' he says.

hxinyi@sph.com.sg

This story was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, on Nov 6, 2008

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