HEPATITIS; A SURE PATHWAY TO LIVER FAILURE part 1
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In late 2013 my husband was given the terrible news that he had cirrhosis (hardening) of the liver. He was not a drinker neither does he practice self medication. unfortunately he did not respond to the treatments available and after suffering but still wanting to live and managing to ‘cope’ he eventually died on 5th August 2014 from a terrible liver disease. I shall never forget this terrible disease and how little is known about it, how little is done about it and everything that went with it. That was a tale told by Veronica, a woman whose husband died from liver failure. Introduction to Hepatitis. |
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| An important organ. |
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| Ongoing hepatitis |
Your liver is as important as your brain, kidneys and heart. It is just at the upper right part of your tummy.
Hepatitis is when the liver get inflamed...like liver swells, becomes reddish painful and warm. This is usually due to many causes but it is a lead way to liver failure. It could be acute ( very urgent, needing immediate attention, life threatened) or chronic (a long time and possibly life long battle)
Your liver does many functions like, process your food and remove toxins (poisons) from it, produce some chemicals necessary for survival of the body, It regulate the amount of sugar in the blood, prevent bleeding and many more.
Let's see what can cause Hepatitis.
Many conditions may not have a specific cause but there predisposing factors that has been studied.
1. Ingestion of alcohol: deeper medical explanation to this than what can be explained here.
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| Alcohol is a culprit |
2. Too much of bad cholesterol (fat) in the blood. Accumulation of this fat in the liver can trigger hepatitis.
3. Viral infections like Hepatitis A, B, C,D, E; I will be discussing A,B and C in subsequent posts.
4. Intake of herbal concoction; herbs has no specified dosages and toxic level is unknown, this makes it dangerous.
5. Some genetic diseases, many of which we may have no control over.
6. Some abnormal reaction in the body (autoimmune); when the body seems to be fighting against itself.
7. Over the counter medications; intake of drugs without prescription; those who have made pharmacy their hospital.
8. Overdose of medication; Paracetamol for example, when taken in high dosage can cause liver damage.
9. Self medication; taking a medicine without adequate knowledge of its actions and dangers associated. This may include unprescribed food supplements.
And many more.....
What are the symptoms of hepatitis?
Other very important ones include:
1. Fever
2. Yellowness of the eye
3. Change in stool color
Some that may point to liver failure;
4. Change in sleep pattern; sleeping more during the day.
5. Abnormal behavior.
6. Easy bleeding from gum while brushing or any other part of the body.
7. Swollen abdomen.
8. Blood in stool.
9. Vomiting of blood.
In long standing liver problem, there may be;
5. Growing of breast in a man.
6. Abnormal hair distribution.
7. Loss of wight.
8. Abdominal swelling.
....and many others.
Let's stop here before I constipate you with medical stuffs...(smiling here). I just really wants you to know the causes of this disease and watch out for these symptoms so you can seek medical help if need be.
Hepatitis in itself may resolve but it is surely a path way to more serious problems of the liver. My next two post will focus on the viral causes but we will be referring to this post. Watch out!
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BolaHealth cares.
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