HEPATITIS

{NOW YOU CAN CHAT DIRECTLY WITH US VIA OUR FAN PAGE HERE ===> CHAT WITH FGICLINIC •WE REPLY WITHIN MINUTES•}

INTRODUCTION

HEPATITIS- Two words are combined here which are;

1. Hepar- which simply means the LIVER
2. Itis- which means inflammation. 

Now y'all would agree with me if I define HEPATITIS as "INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER". Guess what, that basically what HEPATITIS is.


WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS INFLAMED LIVER.

Well documented causes has been group into (A) Infectious and (B) Non infectious causes

1. Infectious causes- stands for diseases that are highly contagious and that are easily transmitted to other people.
They include diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasite. However more notorious are those caused by the viruses which accounts for more than 50% of Hepatitis. These viruses so love the liver(hepar) that doctors gave them a fancy name "hepatotropic viruses"
They includes;

1. Hepatitis A virus
2. Hepatitis B virus
3. Hepatitis C virus
4. Hepatitis D virus
5. Hepatitis E virus

2. Non - infectious causes- includes; 

1. Alcohol
2. Drugs- like paracetamol. 
3. Metabolic accumulation of materials like copper in the liver.

HOW ON EARTH DO PEOPLE GET HEPATITIS?

1. Hepatitis A and E- You contract this 2 viral agent by eating them in foods. Eating in an unhygienic cafeteria is a huge risk factor.

2. Hepatitis B, C and D- you contract them by coming in contact with blood or body fluids of an infected individual. Risk (predisposing) factors for this includes;

1. Sharing of sharps e.g blades.
2. Having multiple S3xual partners. 
3. Having an unprotected S3xual intercourse. 
4. Intravenous drug abuse.
5. Transfusion with unscreened blood. 

3. Alcoholism.
4. Overdose or indiscriminate use of drugs chlorpromazine.
5. Metabolic conditions- one in which copper are deposited in the liver amongst others.

HOW AM I GOING TO KNOW IF I HAVE HEPATITIS?

First we need to explain here what your liver does and how it function to keep you alive. Your liver serves you in the following capacities;

1. DETOXIFICATION- Your liver ensures nothing poisonous gets into your body systems.  It is so positioned by nature that nothing taking by mouth gets into your body system without it passing through your liver. It screens every food you eat and drink checking it out for poisonous substances and immediately detoxifying them and it does this at all times, no exception. It becomes overwhelmed and inflammed when the dose of the toxins/poison ingested is more than what it can handle.

2. It ensures you don't bleed to death each time you have minor cut (injury) by generating substance that helps in blood clotting.

3. It store up excess food nutrients for you so that you don't have to eat all the time and are able to sleep all night long without eating till you break the fast with breakfast in the morning by releasing them to your body system when they are starved.

4. It processess and packages waste products generated by different organs in your body in a way that it will be easy for your kidneys to filter them so that you pass them out in your urine. It 'itself' directly excrete "bile"from your body.

5. It'll be very difficult to go by a day without eating fats in our diet. Yeah thanks to the liver in this regard. Without a functioning liver, your intestine will be unable to digest fat because bile is required for the digestion of fat.

..........JUST TO MENTION A FEW.........

You can suspect Hepatitis if you have the following.

1. Yellowness of the eye- 

Doctors call this Jaundice. Reason for this is because the liver can no longer perform its excretory duty and bilirubin (a yellow pigment derived from broken down red blood cells) will now accumulate in the body. 

2. Easy bleeding tendency

3. Abdominal pain.

4. Loss of appetite.

5. Fever.

6. Fatigue

7. Nausea and vomiting

8. Joint pain.

Going to the hospital where tests like;

• Viral serology- to detect hepatitis viral infection.
• Liver enzyme assay and liver function test- to determine other causes and assess the global function of the liver.
• Ultrasound- to determine the size of your liver.

Would confirm hepatitis and state the extent of damage to the liver.

Hepatitis A and E for the most part would resolve on their own but others would require medications alongside observations. 

Bottom line here is to go to a Hospital if you're experiencing any of the symptoms in order to establish which is which and manage appropriately as such. 

PREVENTION

Avoid the already mentioned risk factors by;

1. Look well into the environments you are about to eat. Is it hygienic?. Remember their objectives is to make profit of you. Your objectives is to eat while protecting your liver in the process.

2. Avoid S3xual promiscuity- Having multiple S3xual partners with unprotected intercourse would get you Hepatitis.

3. Avoid indiscriminate use of drugs. Taking drugs without a doctor's prescriptions is SYNONYMOUS WITH A SUICIDAL ATTEMPT.

4. ALCOHOL has been implicated as a cause of most non infectious diseases. Guess what HEPATITIS is not an exception.

5. As much as you can, I implore you to avoid sharing of sharps. If you are ever going to use one on yourself make sure you personalise it.

CONCLUSION

Location of the liver.

Liver is a priceless organ that its functions cannot be overemphasized. Let's protect our liver. Remember you only have one. Anytime you are about to engage in any of the aforementioned risk factors, ALWAYS remember that FGI took out time to explain the AFTERMATH.
WITH THE AIR CLEARED, I FEEL FULFILLED. THANKS AND OVER TO YOU.