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Liver cancer is the world’s second leading cause of cancer deaths, according to the latest World Cancer Report 2014 released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO). About 800,000 deaths per year are related to liver cancer. Continue reading
Posted in Deadliest Cancers, General Hep B info, HBV Prevention, Hep B Prevention, Hep B Treatment, hepatocellular carcinoma, Liver cancer, Liver Cancer Awareness, liver cancer prevention, Research, Uncategorized, Vaccines, Viral Hepatitis
Tagged Cancer deaths, chronic HBV, Early detection, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis B Foundation, hepatitis B vaccine, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, World Cancer Report, World Health Organization
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It’s week two of 2013. How are your New Years’ Resolutions going? When you were making your resolutions, did you consider hepatitis B specific New Year’s resolutions? Here are a few ideas…
Posted in Hep B Support, Liver Health, Living with Hep B, Vaccines
Tagged chronic HBV, HBV, Hepatitis B
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When people learn they are infected with hepatitis B, the first thing they want to know is “what can I take to get rid of this disease?” It can be complicated, and what can be even more difficult to understand is that during different stages of the disease there may be absolutely no benefit from currently available treatments.
Just diagnosed with HBV? Are you acute or chronic?
First, if you have just been diagnosed with HBV, it is imperative that you determine if you have an acute or chronic infection. If you have an acute, or new infection, then it is important to know that very few people require any sort of treatment. Just be sure you are being monitored by your doctor, and take good care of your health and be sure to prevent transmission to others during this time.
Chronically infected, now what?
If your doctor determines you are chronically infected, then you will need additional information to determine what your next steps should be.
Remember that unless you display urgent symptoms, such as jaundice, or a bloated abdomen, or severe illness, you really can wait a few weeks, or even a few months, to see a liver specialist. Many people panic if they are unable to see a liver specialist immediately. Relax, find a good doctor, learn what you can about hepatitis B, and take care while you wait.
How will you be evaluated?
Your liver specialist will do a complete work-up on you. He will perform a physical examination, get a complete medical history, and he will run additional blood tests to learn more about your hepatitis B status and your liver health. He may also get a baseline ultrasound or perform other diagnostic imaging procedures to gain more data so he can make a decision whether or not you would benefit from treatment at this time. Some of the blood work may need to be repeated over a period of time before your doctor decides whether or not to move forward with treatment. Do not beg your doctor for treatment. Waiting and watching is sometimes the smartest thing to do. Treatment is rarely an emergency. Time is on your side, so please be patient.
What can you do while you wait?
This is a good time to look at some of your personal lifestyle choices and consider some basic changes that might benefit you at this time. Avoid alcohol, and stop smoking. Focus on eating a well-balanced diet filled with fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean meats. Avoid fast and processed foods when possible. They may contain trans fats, partially hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup and other less desirable “ingredients”. Don’t’ forget to get everyone in the household screened and vaccinated against HBV if you have not already done so.
What’s next? Tune in next time to learn about some of your blood work…
Posted in General Hep B info, Hep B Awareness, Hep B Diagnosis, Hep B Treatment, Living with Hep B
Tagged acute HBV, chronic HBV, HBV, Hepatitis B
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The tricky part about hepatitis B symptoms is that there are often no symptoms. That is why hepatitis B is referred to as the “silent infection”. This can be a little confusing to people newly diagnosed with HBV – whether it is determined you have an acute or chronic infection.
If you have a new, acute infection, there is a good chance you will be one of the roughly 69% with no notable symptoms. You may feel a little under-the-weather or a little more tired then usual, or you may notice no difference at all. You may learn about your infection through blood work following a possible exposure, or following screening from a blood donation. Since 90% of adults infected with hepatitis B will clear the infection – most with no medical intervention, it is possible for you to be infected, clear the virus, and never even know until blood work shows evidence of a past infection.
Then again you may be one of the roughly 30% who do have symptoms. You may experience flu-like symptoms such as achy muscles and joints, a low-grade fever and fatigue. Because your liver plays a role in digestion, you may experience a loss of appetite, feel a little nauseous, or experience pain in the upper right quadrant of your abdomen. You may have dark, tea colored urine. Then again, these symptoms may not be so severe that you take much notice. It’s okay, because these symptoms typically do not require treatment. However, if you are symptomatic, or you are concerned, please see your doctor, and he will run blood tests to be sure your liver is safe.
Here are the important symptoms that you need to have checked-out immediately: jaundice, severe nausea and vomiting, and bloating or swelling of the abdomen. If you have any of these symptoms, you need to seek immediate medical attention. Your doctor will want to run lab work, which will likely need to be repeated while you are symptomatic and as you recover, to monitor your condition and be sure you are safe. At this time, your doctor will determine the next steps –perhaps you will need to be admitted to the hospital for fluids and observation if you are severely dehydrated, or more likely, you’ll recover at home with regular lab work and follow-up with your doctor.
If you notice that your skin or the whites of your eyes are yellow, then you are suffering from jaundice. This is due to a build-up of bilirubin in the blood and tissues. Your liver is an amazing organ and one of its responsibilities is the filtering out of your body’s bi-products or other toxins from your blood, maintaining them at healthy levels. Jaundice is very unsettling to those that have it because it is noticeable by others. Normal coloring will return once the body is able to rid itself of the buildup of these toxins.
Although rare, (approximately 1%) acute hepatitis B can result in life-threatening, fulminant hepatitis, which can lead to liver failure. Fulminant hepatitis requires immediate medical attention.
The other possibility is that you are actually chronically infected, and that your infection is not new. You may have been living with HBV since birth or early childhood. Your hepatitis B infection may be a complete surprise to you. You might ask, “How could I have this infection all of these years and not even know it?” Once again, HBV is a silent infection. For those chronically infected, obvious symptoms may not occur for decades. The liver is a hard-working, non-complaining organ, but you don’t want to ignore your HBV and put yourself at increased risk for cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer. Believe it or not, the sooner you learn about your HBV infection, the better, so that you get regular monitoring, seek treatment if necessary, and make lifestyle changes that are good for your liver and overall health.
Whether you have symptoms or not, there are a few things you need to remember. You must go back to your doctor for further lab work to determine if your HBV infection is acute or chronic. If you are still surface antigen positive (HBsAg+) after 6 months, then you have a chronic infection and need to see a liver specialist to learn more about your hepatitis B infection. The other thing you must do is take precautions so you do not transmit hepatitis B to sexual partners and close household contacts. And finally, be sure to take care of your liver by eating a well-balanced diet, avoiding alcohol, and talk to your doctor or pharmacist about prescriptions or OTC drugs that may be hard on your liver.
Posted in General Hep B info, Hep B Diagnosis, Liver Health
Tagged acute hep B, chronic HBV, HBV, Hepatitis B, symptoms
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If you have just been diagnosed with hepatitis B virus (HBV) then you need to understand how HBV is transmitted. This is the case whether you are acutely or chronically infected. You must understand you are infectious at this time and can transmit the HBV virus to others.
How is hepatitis B transmitted? Hepatitis B is transmitted through blood and infected body fluids. This can happen through direct blood-to-blood contact, unprotected sex, unsterile needles, and from an infected mother to her baby. For kids, pediatric experts report that the fluid that oozes from cuts and open sores is also highly infectious. HBV can also be transmitted inadvertently by the sharing of personal items such as razors, toothbrushes, nail clippers, and other personal hygiene items. HBV is not transmitted casually by sneezing or coughing, shaking hands or sharing a meal. In fact it is not contracted during most of life’s daily activities. Hugging or even kissing won’t cause infection unless there are bloody gums during the exchange. It’s really all about the infected blood and sexual fluids. For example, it’s not about the saliva on the toothbrush that is a big concern, but rather the potential for trace amounts of blood that could be exchanged with a toothbrush from inflamed or bleeding gums.
How did I get this? If you have been diagnosed with hepatitis B virus you are likely racking your brain trying to figure out how you could have gotten HBV. Some can immediately track their likely exposure to a recent event, or perhaps a time period in their life where they were more likely to have been exposed. They may fit into an at-risk category for hepatitis B due to lifestyle choices, country of origin, frequent travel and exposure in endemic areas of the world, high risk employment, or unsafe blood or medical or dental procedures without adequate infection control. (Sadly, this is common in many parts of our world). Then again, the person may be older, and has maintained a long, monogamous relationship like a lady I spoke with recently that likely got her acute infection on the job cleaning bathrooms in office buildings. Had she not had obvious symptoms, she may have gone years without learning of her HBV infection.
Since HBV is a silent infection there can be years before it is detected. Many individuals born in endemic parts of the globe find out later in life that they are hepatitis B positive, even though they have likely had HBV since birth or early-childhood. Children are especially vulnerable to chronic HBV. 50-90% of children and babies infected with HBV will remain chronic and most will have no symptoms. Often it remains undetected until it is caught in routine blood work or later in life when there may be liver disease progression. In Asia, vertical transmission from mother to child is very common; whereas in Africa, horizontal transmission at a young age is often the culprit. Since kids are notorious for scrapes, oozing boo-boos and bug bites, play and close contact among siblings and peers puts little ones at risk. Additionally, where and how they live can also be factors for increased risk.
Although not casually transmitted, there are innumerable, inadvertent opportunities for exposure to hepatitis B. If you are from an area where HBV is very common, then of course the odds of exposure, transmission, and infection will be higher throughout your entire life. If you do, or have participated in high-risk activities at some point in your life, you are also at greater risk. People are often quick to point out that they have never injected drugs or participated in more obvious high-risk activities, but let’s face it – multiple sex partners? Certainly sexual experimentation in college or early adulthood is not that unique. The girl from my dorm that traveled to every party with her toothbrush because she didn’t know where she would “spend the night” is now happily married with two kids. However, her previous behavior unknowingly put her at risk for HBV infection. Things happen, people change, or sometimes they don’t. This isn’t a time for judging, it’s a reflection of what happened yesterday or 20 years ago that may have exposed you to HBV and resulted in infection. That being said, unless it happened just recently and you can definitively identify your exposure, I would advise that you let it go and move forward. I spent a number of years wondering about the details of my daughter’s infection, but ultimately, it really doesn’t matter.
Time to move forward.
The next step – preventing transmission to others…
Posted in General Hep B info, Hep B Awareness, Hep B Diagnosis, Hep B Prevention
Tagged acute HBV, chronic HBV, HBV, Hepatitis B, transmission