HOW ECESSIVE USE OF PAIN RELIEVERS LEADS TO HEPATITIS

There was a man who never knew he had Hepatitis B until the day he wanted to donate blood on behalf of his neighbor‘s wife that was to deliver a baby. The man was told that his blood could not be accepted just because he was tested positive to hepatitis B antigen caught him unawares.

The questions he wanted to ask were many and for him, it was one infection he could not explain how contacted it.

Many people are in the shoes of this man, who had contacted the various forms of the hepatitis virus unnoticed and may already be candidates for liver damage and liver cancer, according to Dr Toyin Adeyalo, a medical officer at the state secretariat clinic, Abere Osogbo.

Hepatitis, she said, is an inflammation of the liver caused by many things of which a virus is the major culprit of the known type of hepatitis virus A, B, C, D, E, F and G, hepatitis C like hepatitis B, can cause long- term, chronic infection that can lead to severe liver damage, cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Hepatitis A and E are transmitted like cholera and does not cause permanent damage to the liver. They can cause acute liver injury, but do not cause chronic liver disease like B< C and D .For some unknown reason, D cannot be present where there is no B. That is why normally effort is most concentrated on B and C that are the most common liver infections and the leading causes of severe liver disease like cirrhosis and cancer.

Apart from viruses she said, many other factors such as abuse of drugs like paracetamol, tetracycline and aspirin, use of herbal concoctions and alcohol and eating of toxics mushrooms can cause injury to the liver, subsequently, contributing to death of some of the tissues of this organ.

Just as many so- call herbs are actually toxic to the liver, wild mushrooms known as death caps can cause catastrophic liver failure or even death.

Chart - Understanding Hepatitis

Even among adolescents and adults who, constitute a much larger part of the infected population, she said hepatitis B virus is transmitted through sex, injection drug use, occupational exposure(among health workers, for example blood or blood product transfusion . and household contact with items such as razor blade or toothbrush of someone who has an acute infection or is a chronic carrier of the virus because virus may be found in blood, semen, tears and saliva.

According to Dr Adeyalo, viruses that cause hepatitis can stay for three months o n an open surface without dying and that is why it is more infectious than even HIV that can only be outside the human body for few hours.

World Health Organization( WHO), according to her has it on record that more than two thousand million people alive today have been infected with hepatitis B. Approximately 350 million are chronically infected and are at high risk of serious and death from cirrhosis of the liver and primary liver cancer, diseases that kill 500,000 to 750,000 person a year.

Dr Adeyalo of the Hannadebby Liver Foundation said hepatitis is a silent epidemic and silent killer that people never realized is more deadly than HIV/AIDS.

For instance, hepatitis B is a silent epidemic e and a silent killer because many don’t even know they have been infected because there are usually no symptoms. By the time they develop symptoms it is usually too late and unknowingly it is very easy to catch, more common than the dreaded Acquired  Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and far more infectious.

She said that while 90 per cent of the people who get hepatitis B recover spontaneously with  their body ‘s defenses, the 10 per cent who maintain the infection for six months or longer and who do not produce an effective antibody response are considered chronic carriers . A small percentage of these chronic carriers will 30to 40 years later ultimately develop cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer.

Meanwhile, hepatitis B is the most common cause of liver cancer worldwide, and liver cancer is the third most common cancer in the world.

Given that HBV may also be transmitted by puncturing the skin with instruments- such as those use for acupuncture , dental, and medical procedures even for ear piecing and manicures- that have been contaminated. She stated that people who are at high risk of the viruses are children below five years old. Health care professionals who are usually exposed to blood, blood donors, army personnel, prisoners, men having sex with men , sexual workers and intravenous drug users.

People with kidney diseases that required dialysis and those undergoing treatment of leukemia are also at high risk of contacting  HBV.

Also the United Nations health agency said almost all children in all developing contries become infected with the different viruses for hepatitis and that the younger they are, the more likely they will become a chronic carrier, thus the need to vaccinate young children  in most of the world . While they can get infected with hepatitis B and C through blood, infected needles or from an infected mother at birth, they can contact hepatitis E through contaminated food or water.

The WHO said that incubation period of the hepatitis B virus ranges between 45 and 160 days and usually without manifestations or symptoms. Thus people infected with hepatitis B may not even realize that they have it until the later stage of the disease. And even when the symptoms are present, they are vague, often mimicking other less life threatening diseases

Sometime people infected with hepatitis B have what looks like flu, with symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, fever and weakness. They may also develop symptoms more directly related to their livers, abdominal pain , dark urine and yellowing of the eyes and the skin. That kind of hepatitis B infection is usually harmless, even if it can be a little unpleasant for a period time.

According to the medical expert, people need not die from this preventable disease for which an effective vaccine had been developed over 20 years ago, stressing that the reason people are dying is because there is a huge lack of knowledge. Nobody is shouting about it and nobody is creating awareness on the disease.

Understanding Hepatitis Anatomical Chart Unmounted-9992PU

WAYS TO AVOID GETTING HEPATITIS

There are several ways you can avoid getting Hepatitis. The initial protection, Dr Adeyalo said is having your child immunized against hepatitis B at birth. Adults that were not immunized at birth can go for a blood test to check if they have been previously infected with hepatitis B without realizing it. It is important to get oneself immunized as soon as possible.

Also is important to avoid unprotected sexual contact with someone who may be infected. Wash hand after touching any bodily fluids and cover any cuts or open sores with a bandage.

Home Access Hepatitis C Check 1 ea

Equally, it is important to avoid drug abuse and sharing of needles. Avoid sharing personal items such as toothbrushes, razors and shavers. The use of unsterilized needles and other instruments when having acupuncture, ear piercing or having a tattoo done should be avoided as well.