What happens if you don't get hepatitis treated?
Hepatitis C can be a short-term illness, but for most people, acute infection leads to chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis C can be a lifelong infection if left untreated. Chronic hepatitis C can cause serious health problems, including liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer, and even death.
What do doctors do for hepatitis?
About 25 percent of people with chronic hepatitis B can be cured with a drug called pegylated interferon-alpha, which is taken as a weekly injection for six months. The alternative is suppression of the virus with oral medications, such as lamivudine and adefovir.
What happens if you don't get hepatitis B treated?
For other people, acute hepatitis B leads to life-long infection known as chronic hepatitis B. Over time, chronic hepatitis B can cause serious health problems, including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and even death.
Do you need treatment for hepatitis?
If you have been exposed to the virus in the past few days, emergency treatment can help stop you becoming infected. If you have only had the infection for a few weeks or months (acute hepatitis B), you may only need treatment to relieve your symptoms while your body fights off the infection.
What happens if you get hepatitis A?
Symptoms. The incubation period of hepatitis A is usually 14–28 days. Symptoms of hepatitis A range from mild to severe and can include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-coloured urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the eyes and skin).
How long can you live without Hep C treatment?
Like the human papillomavirus (HPV), early acute hepatitis C can clear on its own without treatment; this happens about 25% of the time. However, it's more likely that the virus will remain in your body longer than six months, at which point it's considered to be chronic hepatitis C infection.
Can you live with hepatitis?
When a person has the hepatitis C virus (HCV) for several years, their liver can become inflamed. However, a person can live for years without even knowing that they have HCV. Once the symptoms start to show, the person usually already has liver damage, which can affect treatment and prognosis.
How long can hepatitis B patient live without treatment?
The hepatitis B virus can survive outside the body for at least 7 days. During this time, the virus can still cause infection if it enters the body of a person who is not protected by the vaccine.
Can I live a normal life with hepatitis B?
The most important thing to remember is that hepatitis B is a chronic medical condition (such as diabetes and high blood pressure) that can be successfully managed if you take good care of your health and your liver. You should expect to live a long, full life.
Is hepatitis A serious?
In rare cases, hepatitis A can cause liver failure and even death; this is more common in older people and in people with other serious health issues, such as chronic liver disease.
Why do doctors test for hepatitis?
People can live without symptoms or feeling sick, so testing is the only way to know if you have hepatitis C. Getting tested is important to find out if you are infected so you can get lifesaving treatment that can cure hepatitis C.
Is hepatitis an emergency?
Severe cases of acute hepatitis may progress rapidly to acute liver failure. Hepatitis B and C can lead to chronic infection and may go on to develop cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is defined as acute liver failure that is complicated by hepatic encephalopathy.
What is the best treatment for hepatitis?
Antiviral medications. Several antiviral medications — including entecavir (Baraclude), tenofovir (Viread), lamivudine (Epivir), adefovir (Hepsera) and telbivudine (Tyzeka) — can help fight the virus and slow its ability to damage your liver.
Can hepatitis be cured with antibiotics?
There's no cure for hepatitis B. The good news is it usually goes away by itself in 4 to 8 weeks. More than 9 out of 10 adults who get hepatitis B totally recover. However, about 1 in 20 people who get hepatitis B as adults become “carriers,” which means they have a chronic (long-lasting) hepatitis B infection.
What hepatitis is curable?
There are 3 main types of hepatitis: hepatitis A, B, and C. All types of hepatitis are treatable but only A and C are curable. Most people with hepatitis A or hepatitis B infection will recover on their own, with no lasting liver damage.
How is hepatitis diagnosed?
Your doctor draws a small amount of blood from a vein in your arm and sends it to a laboratory for testing. The results of a blood test can confirm the type of viral hepatitis, the severity of the infection, whether an infection is active or dormant, and whether a person is currently contagious.
Diagnosis
Treatment
- No specific treatment exists for hepatitis A. Your body will clear the hepatitis A virus on its own. In most cases of hepatitis A, the liver heals within six months with no lasting damage. Hepatitis A treatment usually focuses on keeping comfortable and controlling signs and symptoms. You may need to: 1. Rest.Many people with hepatitis A infection ...
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
- You can take steps to reduce the risk of passing hepatitis A to others. 1. Avoid sexual activity.Avoid all sexual activity if you have hepatitis A. Many kinds of sexual activity can spread the infection to your partner. Condoms don't offer adequate protection. 2. Wash your hands thoroughly after using the toilet and changing diapers.Scrub vigorously for at least 20 seconds a…
Preparing For Your Appointment
- If someone close to you is diagnosed with hepatitis A, ask your doctor or local health department if you should have the hepatitis A vaccine to prevent infection. If you have signs and symptoms of hepatitis A, make an appointment with your family doctor or a primary doctor.