Hepatitis Diagnosis and Treatment – Agrawal Gastrocare Center Indore

What is Hepatitis?

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. It is caused due to any damage or infection in your tissue of the body.

It is also caused due to heavy alcohol consumption, toxins, some medications, and other medical conditions that can also lead to hepatitis.

The damage caused by hepatitis can also affect the functioning of your liver.

There are some types of hepatitis that cause only short-term infections, whereas other types can cause short-term as well as long-term infections.

Types of Hepatitis

There are five types of hepatitis virus:

• Hepatitis A: Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus
• Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). chronic hepatitis B increases your risk of developing liver failure, liver cancer, or cirrhosis.
• Hepatitis C: Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) spreads through contaminated blood.
• Hepatitis D: Hepatitis D is a liver infection you can get if you have hepatitis B. It can cause serious symptoms that can lead to lifelong liver damage and even death.
• Hepatitis E: Hepatitis E is a virus that infects your liver. It can cause your liver to swell up.

Symptoms of Hepatitis

In some cases, there are no symptoms at all but when symptoms occur, they include:

• Fatigue
• Loss of Appetite
• Dark-colored urine
• Joint pain
• Abdominal pain or discomfort
• Sudden vomiting and nausea
• Intense itching
• Pale yellow eyes and yellowing of the skin
• Suffering from jaundice

The mentioned symptoms may be relatively mild and can go away in a few weeks.

How Hepatitis is Diagnosed?

It is very important to know how hepatitis is diagnosed, the disease can be diagnosed in the following ways:

1.   If you have symptoms like yellow skin, pale eyes (jaundice), nausea, abdominal pain, frequent fatigue, and fever.

2.   Liver functioning tests are conducted to examine the efficiency of your liver, this test is performed using your blood samples.

3.   Liver biopsy is a procedure that is carried out by removing a small piece of liver tissue so that it can be examined under a microscope to know if there are any signs of damage or disease.

4.   Doctors may ask you to perform a physical exam.

Treatment for Hepatitis

Treatment for hepatitis can vary by the type you are diagnosed with. Here are some ways in which you can treat hepatitis:

• Rest and Hydration: Some type of hepatitis like Hepatitis A doesn’t require any type of excess treatment, this can be treated by taking rest and hydrating yourself.
• Antiviral Medication: Antiviral medications are recommended for long-term hepatitis diseases. There are antiviral medications available to treat mainly Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
• Avoid Alcohol and intake of Toxins: Avoiding major intake of alcohol and toxins is a type of treatment that is specifically focused on Hepatitis D. This would help your liver to recover from the damage caused by alcohol.
• Self-care: It is the most important aspect, part of treatment for hepatitis, there are types of hepatitis like Hepatitis E which can only be resolved by self-care.