Do you know that you have a chemical factory inside your body? A chemical factory that produces useful chemicals, reuses old chemicals, filters and gets rid of the harmful chemicals from your body? We call that chemical factory- the liver. Yes, the liver is one of the most important organs in your body. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to survive. The liver removes harmful and toxic chemicals from your body. It fights infection, aids in food digestion, and stores nutrients and energy.
What happens if the chemical factory stops working? All the toxins build up in your body! How scary is that? Some conditions affect the liver and cause it to stop working or malfunction. When inflammation/painful red swelling of your liver occurs due to injury, infection or other causes that affect normal functioning, it is medically called hepatitis. Hepatitis is a severe infection that can cause liver failure and even liver cancer. It is also one of the most preventable conditions. All you need to do is be aware, take preventative measures and have a sincere desire to protect yourself and your loved ones from being affected by this deadly virus.
Silent but lethal….
Hepatitis B is an inflammatory disease of the liver. It is caused by a virus called hepatitis B that can be transmitted from person to person through contaminated blood or bodily fluids. What’s ironic about hepatitis B is that it’s not the virus itself that causes liver damage. Instead, the immune response it sets off in your body by being present causes inflammation and injury in your liver while trying to kill off the virus.
Once you’ve been exposed to the virus for the first time, your immune system may be able to fight off the infection and you may be cured. However, if the virus persists in your body for more than 6 months, chronic liver disease can develop. It may take at least 4 months after exposure before you experience symptoms or until it becomes very severe. There is also a chance that you may carry the virus inside your body without symptoms for the rest of your life. However, the risk of other people getting infected from you will remain the same. Once you’re infected with the Hep B virus, protective antibodies develop in your blood that will protect you from further infection.
Risk of infection…
You are at risk of getting infection if you come into contact with the blood, sperm, or other bodily fluids of an infected person. This occurs when you are having sex with an infected person, getting tattoos or piercings with unsterilized tools, getting injured with infected needles, sharing drug syringes with an infected person or sharing toothbrushes or razors with someone who has hepatitis B
If you are a medical / paramedic, need blood or blood products transfusions due to an illness or have a family member with hepatitis B, you are at a high risk. Pregnant women with hepatitis B are at a higher risk of carrying the infection to their unborn baby.
Time to seek medical care…
If you are experiencing symptoms such as yellowing eyes and skin, tiredness, upset stomach, fever, lack of appetite, diarrhoea, light-coloured stools, dark-coloured urine, bloated stomach and ankles, and easy bruising, you should consult your doctor.
You may never experience any of the above symptoms, even if you have the infection. However, you must see your doctor if you are at high risk or if you have a history of hepatitis B infection. If left untreated, the hepatitis B virus can cause your liver to become scarred, and normal liver cells die and become replaced by scar tissue (cirrhosis). The normal functioning of your liver is impaired as the damaged areas cease to function. Over time, this can lead to your liver failing, developing liver cancer, and even death. It can also increase your risk of hepatitis D virus infection, which can make your liver disease worse.
Diagnosis at the clinic
Your doctor will test your blood for hepatitis B to see how well your liver is working and the level of antibodies your body has against the virus. They may also perform an ultrasound of your abdomen to see how your liver is functioning. If they suspect that the infection has been present in your body for more than 6 months, they may suggest that you have a liver biopsy, which involves removing a small piece of your liver to be examined under a microscope.
Cure for the condition
You may need to go to the hospital for fluid replacement and to maintain appropriate nutrition throughout your acute phase of vomiting and diarrhoea. After an acute episode, your doctor may also recommend routine blood tests and other physical examinations to follow the disease’s progression.
There is no treatment for eliminating the virus from the body once you have the disease. Abstinence from drinking and smoking, as well as consumption of a well-balanced diet low in fat and high in vegetables, are a few lifestyle changes that can help avoid the progression of the illness. If you have chronic hepatitis, your doctor may provide treatments in the form of injections or oral pills to delay or stop the virus from harming your liver.
If chronic hepatitis B leads to liver failure, liver transplantation may be the only option. This involves replacing a diseased liver with a new one from a healthy donor. However, you may need to take medications after the transplant to stop the infection from returning.
If hepatitis B infection leads to liver cancer, surgery and chemotherapy can help you prolong life, but the results are always life-threatening.
Protect yourself and others …
You can prevent hepatitis B infection by getting vaccinated. The hepatitis B vaccine is safe to use for adults and children. You can also get vaccinated if you’re pregnant, but make sure you get all 3 shots for full protection. It is also given as routine immunization for all infants to help prevent hepatitis B.
In addition to the above, there are a few other things you can do to prevent hepatitis B infection. Ensure that you use a condom during sexual intercourse, never share drug needles, do not borrow razors or toothbrushes from an infected person, never use unsterile tools for tattooing or piercings, and always wear gloves when touching someone else’s blood. If you suspect you have hepatitis B, you should see your doctor right away. Your doctor will give you a medicine called hepatitis b immunoglobulin, along with your first hepatitis B vaccine, which will help in preventing you from falling sick.
If you have been diagnosed, inform your sexual partner. Your partner needs to be vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine to prevent the disease. Other things to do include covering all wounds, avoiding sharing sharp tools and toothbrushes and abstaining from donating blood and blood products. If you are carrying the infection during pregnancy, your baby must be vaccinated within 12 hours of birth.
You can prevent HBV!!
Hepatitis B is a more infectious virus as compared to even the AIDS virus. Infection with the virus causes liver damage and has the potential to even lead to liver failure and cancer later in life. Unsafe sex with multiple partners, intravenous drug abuse and using unsterilized needles for tattoos are some of the preventable risk factors.
Don’t forget that hepatitis B is a silent killer and once you’re infected, the outcome is always life-threatening. While there is no cure for hepatitis B, the one silver lining is that the disease is very preventable. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Get yourself and your family vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine today. Early diagnosis and early treatment can at least slow down the progress of liver damage if not completely cure it.
