Hepatitis Management

Hepatitis is a situation of inflammation of the liver it is characterized by inflammatory cells in the tissues of any organ. At times the disease can be self limiting or gradually healing or can even develop to damage the liver. Hepatitis can be acute as well as chronic in case of the former the disease lasts for around six months were as in case of latter the disease persists for a long period. The causes behind chronic hepatitis can be many it may be due to viral infections, autoimmune, due to excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs and at times can be genetic.

There are many types of chronic hepatitis: Hepatitis A which is transmitted through contaminated food and water. Hepatitis B is usually transmitted through the blood of an affected person. Hepatitis C is similar to B type except the fact that it is caused by a different virus. Prevention of these causes is the first and foremost step in chronic disease management of hepatitis.

Most of the patients suffering from hepatitis do not exhibit any kind of symptoms in case of chronic hepatitis abnormal blood tests is the only manifestation to determine hepatitis. Features of the disease may be related to the extent of liver damage. Other normal symptoms are abdominal fullness due to the enlargement of liver or spleen low grade fever and fluid retention. Extensive damage of liver is followed by weight loss and bleeding.  Patients suffering from hepatitis B develop high fever, jaundice and abdominal pain.

Diagnosis of the disease is an important phase in chronic disease management. Patients exhibiting the above symptoms can be subjected to many medical tests such as: Diagnostic liver imaging, Liver cancer screening etc to determine whether they are affected by hepatitis. As such there is no specific treatment for hepatitis, the only measure to be taken in chronic disease management of hepatitis is control of alcohol and drugs in case of hepatitis A, proper rest along with a high carbohydrate and high protein diet for hepatitis B an anti viral agent called interferon is also used to treat hepatitis B & C.  proper hygiene and safe sex can prevent hepatitis to a great extent.