Symptoms and Treatment of Hepatitis B

Your liver gets infected when you suffer from Hepatitis B. The disease may scar your liver, cause cancer and even lead to the failure of the organ. If it is not treated on time, it can even be fatal.

Hepatitis B spreads when a person is exposed to body fluids, open sore or blood of somebody who is carrying the Hepatitis B virus. However, the good news for you is that in a majority of cases, the disease would not last for a long time. A human body can combat it within some months and there is immunity from it in your future years. It implies you will not get it again.

It is also true that a few people are not completely out of this infection. In case a person is infected with the disease for over six months, he or she is considered as a carrier even when they do not have the symptoms. It implies the carrier can pass on the disease to another person through any of the following means:

· Sharing syringes or needle

· The carrier is in contact with another person’s open sore or blood

• Unprotected sex

Symptoms of Hepatitis B

When a person is first infected, the symptoms include:

• Fever
• Light-colored feces

· Fatigue that lasts for months or weeks

· Jaundice (The patient’s white portions of the eyes or skin turn yellowish and the pee turns orange or brown)

• Pain in the belly

· Stomach problems like vomiting, nausea, and loss of appetite

At times, you may not find these symptoms until one to six months after catching the virus. In fact, the infected person may not simply feel anything. Around 1/3^rd of the people infected with Hepatitis B do not feel any difference. A blood test can only diagnose the disease for this kind of patients.

In case your physician suspects that you are suffering from Hepatitis B, he or she will recommend you to undergo a thorough physical exam. The doctor may also check to find out whether your liver is healthy or not. Such a diagnosis is done with blood tests, which look for a virus called hepatitis as well as cells that can fight infection and are called antibodies.

When the disease has become chronic, your physician may do a biopsy by extracting a tissue from your liver as a sample. The test can tell the severity level of your case.

Treatment of Hepatitis B

In case you feel that you have symptoms of the virus, get in touch with your physician within a fortnight. They can give you a shot of Immune globulin for Hepatitis B and a vaccine. The globulin can improve the immunity system of your body and also help in combating the infection. If you feel sick, the doctor may recommend you to take a bed rest so that your health can improve faster.

Plus, you may be even asked to stay away from things, which may be damaging to your liver such as acetaminophen, and alcohol. Consult your physician prior to taking any drugs, supplements, and herbal treatments. You need to also have a healthy diet regularly.

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