Hepatitis And Liver

Hepatitis is most commonly caused by the viruses hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Other causes include heavy alcohol use, certain medications, toxins, autoimmune diseases, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Hepatitis A and E are mainly spread by contaminated food and water.

You can get vaccines for hepatitis A and hepatitis B, but not for hepatitis C.

Hepatitis D can only infect people already infected with hepatitis B. Hepatitis D is difficult to treat. Interferon alpha has proven effective at inhibiting viral activity but only on a temporary basis.

Hepatitis A, B, and D are preventable with immunization.

Hepatitis C, infects liver directly and can do serious harm over time. Most people don’t notice they have it until many years later when much of the damage has been done. There is Hepatitis C test available. Once it is acquired, persistence of the hepatitis C virus is the rule, resulting in chronic hepatitis C. The goal of treatment is prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma. Treatment options are estimated at about US$ 1 lakh.

Hepatitis A can spread when you touch food or water with contaminated hands.

Hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitis B virus. The virus is passed from person to person through blood, semen or other body fluids. It does not spread by sneezing or coughing.

Exercise and a well-balanced diet are the best way to help maintain a good weight and lower your chances of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

People who drink a few cups of coffee a day may be less likely to get liver diseases including cancer and scarring (fibrosis, cirrhosis). It might even slow those conditions in some people who have them. Filtered, instant, and espresso all seem to work.

Herbs like borage, comfrey, groomwell, and coltsfoot have “pyrrolizidine alkaloids” that can gum up the tiny blood vessels inside the organ, either over time or all at once. Other herbs like Atractylis gummifera, celandine, chaparral, germander, and pennyroyal oil (used in tea) can also cause liver problems.

Diet: Whole-grain rice, breads, and cereals. Monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats from seeds, nuts, fish, and vegetable oils are good.

Acetaminophen (Paracetamol), an analgesic drug used to relieve mild or chronic pain and to reduce fever, is in more than 600 meds, including many cold and flu drugs. Most adults shouldn’t get more than 4,000 milligrams per day. More could hurt your liver. Try not to take more than one product with acetaminophen per day, and never take more than what the package instructions recommend. Acetaminophen is the most common medication that can harm your liver, other meds can also affect liver. Yellowish skin or eyes (jaundice) after you start a new medicine is an indicator of liver in trouble. Statins for high cholesterol and certain antibiotics (amoxicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin) are some examples.

Liver stops doing other things so it can break down the alcohol and remove it from your blood. More than a drink a day for women, two a day for men, it’s really hard on the organ and could hurt liver. Over time, this often leads to “fatty liver,” an early sign of disease. It also might cause bad bacteria to grow in your gut that can travel to your liver and cause damage.