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HBV

Hepatitis B Virus. What Is Hepatitis B? Hepatitis B is an infection of your liver. It can cause scarring of the organ, liver failure, and cancer. It can be fatal if it isn’t treated. It’s spread when people come in contact with the blood, open sores, or body fluids of someone who has the hepatitis B virus. It's serious, but if you get the disease as an adult, it shouldn’t last a long time. Your body fights it off within a few months, and you’re immune for the rest of your life. That means you can't get it again. But if you get it at birth, it’ unlikely to go away. What Are the Symptoms of Hepatitis B? When you’re first infected, the warning signs include: Jaundice.- Your skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, and your pee turns brown or orange.) Light-colored poop Fever Fatigue that persists for weeks or months Stomach trouble like loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting Belly pain Symptoms may not show up until 1 to 6 months after you catch the virus. You might not feel anything. About a third of the people who have this disease don’t. They only find out through a blood test.

HCV

Hepatitis C Virus. What Is Hepatitis C? Hepatitis C is a liver infection that can lead to serious liver damage. It’s caused by the hepatitis C virus. About 3.9 million people in the U.S. have the disease. But it causes few symptoms, so most of them don't know. The virus spreads through an infected person’s blood or body fluids. There are many forms of the hepatitis C virus, or HCV. The most common in the U.S. is type 1. None is more serious than any other, but they respond differently to treatment. Stages of Hepatitis C The hepatitis C virus affects people in different ways and has several stages: Incubation period. This is the time between first exposure to the start of the disease. It can last anywhere from 14 to 80 days, but the average is 45 Acute hepatitis C. This is a short-term illness that lasts for the first 6 months after the virus enters your body. After that, some people who have it will get rid of, or clear, the virus on their own. Chronic hepatitis C. If your body doesn’t clear the virus on its own after 6 months, it becomes a long-term infection. This can lead to serious health problems like liver cancer or cirrhosis. Cirrhosis. This disease leads to inflammation that, over time, replaces your healthy liver cells with scar tissue. It usually takes about 20 to 30 years for this to happen, though it can be faster if you drink alcohol or have HIV. Liver cancer. Cirrhosis makes liver cancer more likely. Your doctor will make sure you get regular screenings because there are usually no symptoms in the early stages. What Are the Symptoms of Hepatitis C? Many people with hepatitis C have no symptoms. But between 2 weeks and 6 months after the virus enters your bloodstream, you could notice: -Clay-colored poop -Dark urine -Fever -Fatigue -Jaundice (a condition that causes yellow eyes and skin, as well as dark urine) -Joint pain -Loss of appetite -Nausea -Stomach pain -Vomiting Symptoms usually last for 2 to 12 weeks.

HCC

What Is Hepatocellular Carcinoma? Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer that starts in your liver. It's different from "secondary" liver cancers, which have spread to the liver from other organs. If caught early, it can sometimes be cured with surgery or transplant. In more advanced cases it can’t be cured, but treatment and support can help you live longer and better. It's important to remember that you still have control over the decisions you make about your treatment and your life. Make sure you have people you can talk to about your plans, your fears, and your feelings. Ask your doctor about support groups, where you can meet people who know what you're going through. Your doctor can help you understand your treatment options. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are some of your choices. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy are also options.

Autoimmune Hepatitis

What Is Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH)? If your doctor says you have autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), it means your immune system -- the body's main defense against germs -- starts to attack your liver cells. The result: a liver disease that you need to keep tabs on throughout your life. There's no cure for autoimmune hepatitis, but the right treatment lets you manage your symptoms and prevent damage to your liver. Who Gets AIH? There are two major types of autoimmune hepatitis, and both are rare. Type 1 is the more common of the two. You're more likely to get it if you're a woman ages 15 to 40, although people of any age or gender can get it. Type 2 usually happens to girls ages 2 to 14. If you have AIH, there's a good chance you also have another autoimmune disease, such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or Sjogren's syndrome. Treatments If you don't have any symptoms of AIH, your doctor may decide not to treat you right away. Instead, you'll get blood tests and liver biopsies now and then to make sure your liver is still healthy. Treatment usually starts once you have symptoms or your doctor notices that your lab test results are getting worse. At first your doctor will likely suggest you take prednisone, a steroid that lessens inflammation. They might start you on a high dose, then lower it and add azathioprine (Imuran) or 6-mercaptopurine (Purinethol), which curbs your immune system. Both drugs can have side effects. Steroids can make your bones weak, cause you to add pounds, and give you eye problems. Azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine can lower the number of your white blood cells and raise your chances of getting cancer. Sometimes doctors use the steroid budesonide instead of prednisone. Your doctor may suggest other drugs that curb your immune system instead of azathioprine, such as mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept). After 3 years of treatment, 80% of people find their disease is under control. You may be able to stop treatment while your doctor keeps an eye on your health. If your symptoms come back, you'll start treatment again

Liver Diases

There are many different types of liver disease. You can help prevent some of them by maintaining a healthy weight and staying within the recommended alcohol limits, if you drink. Types of liver disease Some of the most common types of liver disease include: Alcohol-related liver disease (regularly drinking too much alcohol) Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (being very overweight (obese) – this may cause fat to build up in the liver) Hepatitis (catching a viral infection, regularly drinking too much alcohol) Haemochromatosis (a gene that runs in families and may be passed from parents to children) Primary biliary cirrhosis (may be caused by a problem with the immune system)

NAFLD

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. It's usually seen in people who are overweight or obese. A healthy liver should contain little or no fat. It's estimated up to 1 in every 3 people in the UK has early stages of NAFLD, where there are small amounts of fat in their liver. Early-stage NAFLD does not usually cause any harm, but it can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it gets worse. Having high levels of fat in your liver is also associated with an increased risk of serious health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. If you already have diabetes, NAFLD increases your chance of developing heart problems. If detected and managed at an early stage, it's possible to stop NAFLD getting worse and reduce the amount of fat in your liver. NAFLD develops in 4 main stages. Most people will only ever develop the first stage, usually without realising it. In a small number of cases, it can progress and eventually lead to liver damage if not detected and managed. You're at an increased risk of NAFLD if you: are obese or overweight – particularly if you have a lot of fat around your waist (an "apple-like" body shape) have type 2 diabetes have high blood pressure have high cholesterol have metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity) are over the age of 50 smoke But NAFLD has been diagnosed in people without any of these risk factors, including young children.

DILI

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an adverse reaction to drugs or other xenobiotics that occurs either as a predictable event when an individual is exposed to toxic doses of some compounds or as an unpredictable event with many drugs in common use. Drugs can be harmful to the liver in susceptible individuals owing to genetic and environmental risk factors. These risk factors modify hepatic metabolism and excretion of the DILI-causative agent leading to cellular stress, cell death, activation of an adaptive immune response and a failure to adapt, with progression to overt liver injury. Idiosyncratic DILI is a relative rare hepatic disorder but can be severe and, in some cases, fatal, presenting with a variety of phenotypes, which mimic other hepatic diseases. The diagnosis of DILI relies on the exclusion of other aetiologies of liver disease as specific biomarkers are still lacking. Clinical scales such as CIOMS/RUCAM can support the diagnostic process but need refinement. A number of clinical variables, validated in prospective cohorts, can be used to predict a more severe DILI outcome. Although no pharmacological therapy has been adequately tested in randomized clinical trials, corticosteroids can be useful, particularly in the emergent form of DILI related to immune-checkpoint inhibitors in patients with cancer.

Liver Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism. Each time your liver is injured — whether by disease, excessive alcohol consumption or another cause — it tries to repair itself. In the process, scar tissue forms. As cirrhosis progresses, more and more scar tissue forms, making it difficult for the liver to function (decompensated cirrhosis). Advanced cirrhosis is life-threatening. The liver damage done by cirrhosis generally can't be undone. But if liver cirrhosis is diagnosed early and the cause is treated, further damage can be limited and, rarely, reversed.Cirrhosis often has no signs or symptoms until liver damage is extensive. When signs and symptoms do occur, they may include: Fatigue Easily bleeding or bruising Loss of appetite Nausea Swelling in your legs, feet or ankles (edema) Weight loss Itchy skin Yellow discoloration in the skin and eyes (jaundice) Fluid accumulation in your abdomen (ascites) Spiderlike blood vessels on your skin Redness in the palms of the hands For women, absent or loss of periods not related to menopause For men, loss of sex drive, breast enlargement (gynecomastia) or testicular atrophy Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy). Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any of the signs or symptoms listed above.

Hrachya Nersisyan str. 7, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: +37491 42 38 02
info@hepatology.am

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