World Hepatitis Day 2024: Signs, Causes, Treatment, Prevention- All You Need To Know

The primary goal of World Hepatitis Day is to promote hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment while also showing support for people impacted by the disease.

World Hepatitis Day 2024: Signs, Causes, Treatment, Prevention

Source : Canva

Every year on July 28, World Hepatitis Day is observed to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and its impact on global health. The primary goal is to promote hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment while also showing support for people impacted by the disease. Viral hepatitis is still a silent killer, claiming many lives each year. 

What Is Hepatitis?

Hepatitis, usually referred to as the swelling or inflammation of the liver, has multiple causes, including the attack on the liver by the body's immune cells and infections from different types of viruses. Another cause of Hepatitis is liver damage due to alcohol, medications, drugs, and toxins. The five main viral classifications of hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. A different virus is responsible for each type of viral hepatitis. 

Symptoms Of Hepatitis:

The common hepatitis symptoms in case of prolonged conditions include fatigue, bloating, pain, inflammation, weight loss, dark urine, clay-coloured stools, jaundice, loss of weight, weakness, and other conditions that depend on the liver condition, personalized health, age, and immunity of an individual. 

The condition gets alarming when there are no symptoms in the initial stage of Hepatitis B and C, but later leads to liver failure and, in more chronic conditions, proves to be fatal. 

Prevention And Cure Of Hepatitis:

As we know prevention is always better than cure, so with Hepatitis also simple precautions such as not consuming potentially contaminated food or water, ensuring raw foods are thoroughly cleaned or cooked before eating, avoiding eating food from outside during the monsoon season, and so on can be extremely beneficial.

Maintaining good personal hygiene and getting vaccinated are also some preventive measures that can be taken to avoid Hepatitis.

Excessive alcohol consumption can also induce liver damage and inflammation. So, alcohol consumption should be minimized to prevent hepatitis.

The best method of preventing Hepatitis B and C is to get tested if one has any symptoms.

Once infected, a less calorific but highly nutritious diet rich in anti-inflammatory elements is required to restore the immune system to normal and aid in long-term recovery.

Also, the patient must drink a lot of water or fluids to keep themselves hydrated.

In addition to these, a diet should be easy to digest, so it’s preferable to opt for gentle cooking methods: grilling, baking, steaming, or boiling.

Since the liver is one of the most important organs involved in maintaining nutritional homeostasis, the impairment of liver function frequently causes various types of malnutrition. Therefore, dietary or nutritional support can rejuvenate inadequate liver function and improve the prognosis in patients with liver damage.