In an exclusive interview with People, the NFL Legend, Dan Marino shared how minor changes in body, which, usually go unnoticed lead to liver disease, like it did for him. Marino did not notice any symptoms in his routine checkup in 2007, but he did feel a "little fatigued". He also "was not rally working out as much as" he usually would. "These are the things I kind of noticed," he said, now, 64. "Then they told me I had a fatty liver. I had MASH."What Is MASH?It is a liver disease, short for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, which was formerly called the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This happens when excess fat cells accumulate in the liver, causing chronic inflammation that leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer, as notes the Cleveland Clinic. He informed People that the doctors "right away said that can be reversible, it can be taken care of". However, for him, it was to "work out" or to "lose weight", he noted.Also Read: Congo Ebola Outbreak Caused By The Zaire Strain So Far Has 28 Deaths, Confirms WHO The NFL legend is current part of Novo Nordisk's Unordinary Stories campaign, where athletes like him, share their unique health journey. A Support SystemMarino shared that his journey and health improvement also is credited to the support he got from his friends and family who helped him prioritized his health. Former teammate Terri Kirby also trained him at his nearby gym and his wife Claire joined him for night walks and bike rides. He also said in the campaign video that his wife helped him with "doctor's appointments, being on time, and making sure I'm doing things right".Also Read: Every Year, They Return To Lake Minnetonka: Four Survivors Who Beat Cancer And Celebrate Life Like most of us must have heard that it takes a village to raise a child, Marino echoes the same emotions. It does take a village to bring someone back to health too. "It is the people that love you and you love them. It feels like a little village," he says. A Consistent Focus On HealthAfter his diagnosis, he soon realized that the focus on his health needs to be consistent. “It's the exercise, riding bike, walking, and diet, and then getting back to just being consistent — waking up and making sure you gotta do something every day.”He also thinks that it is the diet that caused his MASH. He shared with People that while he played football, he had weigh-ins, but after he retired in 2000, he "kind of" let his diet go. "That's really where it kind of came about," he said. A Diet To FixHe shared that his doctor recommended him the Mediterranean diet to "cut back on the wine and pizza and candy, ice cream, those kind of things, you know - you can't eat those as much". For people, he has a message: “if you get diagnosed with fatty liver and MASH, doing the things you need to do, like I talked about — diet, working out — and staying consistent with it, that's what our message really is.” All such practices has made him get better. "I get the ultrasounds and all that every year, and so far it's been fine [and it is] gonna get better and better and better," he says.
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