‘Hepatitis is a silent threat that affects all age groups’

Hepatitis is no longer a disease that affects a particular group, but a silent threat ranging from children to adults for ages.

Observed as World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the doctors in Haydarabad gave an alarm about the increasing burden of liver disease in India and called for emergency awareness, early screening and preventive action.

It can be caused by a wide range of factors such as hepatitis, viral infections, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, obesity, and even some drugs that express inflammation of the liver. More than 40 million people in India live with hepatitis B and up to 12 million hepatitis C, most of them are not aware of the problems. Transplantation Hepatologist Kavya Dendukuri at Gleneagles Hospital usually remains asleep for years, quietly damaging the liver and revealing itself only when the damage is severe.

He also added that hepatitis is not a single disease. Each contains its own causes and transmission modes A, B, C, D and E species. Hepatitis A and E contaminated food and water, while B and C are transmitted from infected blood, unprotected sex, shared needles or mother to child. Hepatitis D only occurs in infected with B.

“Previously, hepatitis was largely seen in the elderly due to alcohol or long -term infections. Consultant Gastroenterologists in Kamineni hospitals said VR Sumanth Kumar and Tejaswini Tumma.

Auto-immun hepatitis, drug-related hepatitis and alcohol-related liver inflammation is also increasing.

“Many people do not realize that some herbal remedies, painkillers, and even overdose in paracetamol, can trigger serious liver inflammation,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges in the fight against hepatitis is that most people show no symptoms until the disease is on. Common symptoms, fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, pale feces and jaundice. But until then, the liver may have already been injured.

Akash Chaudhary, one of the care hospitals, shared that hepatitis can be prevented and improved in many cases. There are vaccines for hepatitis A and B, and all newborns and high -risk adults should take them.

“Hepatitis C treatments, once considered expensive and complex, now contain short-term oral drugs with total treatment rates. Hepatitis B can be managed with daily anti-viral tablets, which are extremely suitable,” he added.