Hepatitis is a group of inflammatory liver pathologies that have an acute or chronic course. They can occur due to adverse external factors, exposure to microorganisms, and other diseases. The viral form of the disease is one of the most common. Every year the number of victims of pathology is growing. How dangerous is she? The article tells about the consequences of hepatitis, complications of the disease, its types and signs.
Forms of pathology
Illness can be triggered by many reasons. Depending on the factors that contribute to its development, experts distinguish the following types:
- Pathology caused by pathogens. Today, several types of pathogens are known. Depending on which virus provoked the pathology, the course of hepatitis, complications and their severity will be different.
- Illness caused by excessive drinking. ethanoldetrimental effect on all organs, including the liver. Frequent drinking of alcohol leads to inflammation. Liver cells change structure. As a result of this process, the organ cannot perform its functions normally.
- Medicines.
- Congestion in the gallbladder.
Some drugs are quite toxic. They are harmful to the liver. These medications include anti-microbials and anti-inflammatory pills. After the end of the course of medication, the malaise disappears, liver function returns to normal.
With hepatitis, complications depend on the cause that provoked the pathology, on the characteristics of its course and the general condition of the patient.
Viral diseases
This category is diverse. It includes several types of ailments. Inflammatory liver pathologies caused by viruses are divided into the following categories:
- Type A. This form is common. However, it does not pose a serious he alth threat. The latent period of type A hepatitis lasts from 7 to 60 days. A person can become infected through food, unwashed hands, when using personal belongings of an infected person. Against the background of adequate therapy, the symptoms of the disease disappear on their own after a few weeks. In some cases, patients require the setting of droppers to remove toxic substances. With this form of hepatitis, complications in children and young people are rare. In older people, the disease can lead to severe liver failure andeven to death.
- Type B. The virus that causes this pathology enters the body through the blood in case of intimate contact, when injected with infected syringes. The disease is quite dangerous, it is accompanied by extremely unpleasant symptoms. A patient with this disease needs help in a hospital setting.
- Type C. This form often provokes complications. Of viral hepatitis, this is the most severe variety. The disease leads to malignant tumors and the development of cirrhosis. Infection occurs through blood transfusion, intimacy and the use of a contaminated syringe.
- Type D. This is a rather rare form due to exposure to several types of pathogens.
- Hepatitis E. In its symptoms, this disease is similar to type A pathology. It usually does not cause serious consequences. However, for expectant mothers, the disease is quite dangerous.
Signs of inflammatory liver pathologies
Symptomatology is determined by the form and type of pathogen that provokes the disease.
However, there are common manifestations that are characteristic of any type of hepatitis. Sometimes inflammation is mild. It does not cause pronounced symptoms. But the danger of this nature of the disease lies in the fact that in the absence of diagnosis and therapy, it can transform into a chronic form. There are situations when the infection is accompanied by severe manifestations. The patient has severe intoxication, disruption of various organs and systems. Regardless of whether the pathology has an acuteor chronic, it gives approximately the same symptoms:
- Yellow color of the skin, whites of the eyes. Some patients do not have this feature.
- Dark-colored urine and light-colored stools.
- Itchy feeling. Scarlet spots appear on the surface of the skin.
- Slow heart rate.
- Increase in the volume of the liver and spleen.
Complications of acute viral hepatitis depend on the type of pathogen, general condition and age category of the patient, the presence or absence of timely diagnosis and therapy.
Type B pathology
The disease is quite common. Transmission is carried out not only by injection and intimacy, but also from mother to fetus. In some patients, the pathology is sluggish. For others, it develops rapidly. What are the complications of hepatitis B? This is, first of all, a malignant neoplasm of the liver or cirrhosis. Also, some patients develop an acute violation of the activity of the organ, often leading to death.
Characteristic symptoms
Pathologies of type B are characterized by the following features:
- Heat temperature.
- Feeling of weakness, loss of strength, constant fatigue.
- Joint discomfort.
- Dizziness.
- Loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
- Bitter taste in the mouth.
- Feeling itchy, red spots on the surface of the skin, reminiscent of hives.
- Discomfort under the right rib.
- Increased liver volume.
- Bleeding from gums, nose.
- Change in color of stool and urine, yellow tint of skin.
There are three main options for the course of pathology. The first is called acute. It is characterized by the appearance of a yellow tint of the epidermis, a constant feeling of weakness, a feeling of itching of the skin. This condition can last from six to eight weeks. In this case, the symptoms of intoxication will be mildly pronounced. With the second variety of the disease, the patient's skin does not acquire a yellow color. However, other signs of liver inflammation are still observed. The third type is hidden, and it is detected only in the process of performing a laboratory blood test. Typically, patients with a similar disease are individuals from 20 to 49 years old. With hepatitis B, complications are especially dangerous for people at risk. These are babies and elderly people.
Acute liver dysfunction
This complication is typical for the fulminant form of the disease. Fortunately, it is quite rare. With the development of pathology during the first 14 days after yellowing of the skin, a person develops disorders of the functions of the organ, which progress rapidly. Viral hepatitis type E in expectant mothers also provokes violations of the urinary system. In addition, these effects are observed in individuals with concomitant chronic liver diseases. With hepatitis B, complications of this kind in adults are unlikely.
Viral inflammation of the liver duringgestation
The acute form of pathology poses a threat to the unborn baby. The fact is that against the background of intoxication, abortion can occur. The risk of termination of fetal life is determined by the severity of the course of the disease. If the expectant mother suffers from a chronic form of viral inflammation of the liver, she still has a high chance of giving birth to a he althy baby. In the case when a woman has type B hepatitis, the child is given the first vaccination against this pathology immediately after birth.
Signs of disease progression
It is known that the consequence of viral inflammation of the liver can be cirrhosis, a tumor or the formation of scar tissue in place of a he althy one (this condition is called fibrosis). How to determine that a patient with hepatitis has already begun to develop complications? There are several warning signs such as:
- Pronounced yellowness of the epidermis, mucous membranes, whites of the eyes, which persists for a long time.
- Bruising on the skin that occurs for no apparent reason.
- Increase in the volume of small vessels on the surface of the face and body.
- Scarlet coloring of the palms and feet.
- White spots on the nail plates.
- Increase in the volume of the abdomen, hips and breasts in men.
- Sexual disorders, menstrual irregularities, inability to conceive.
- Bleeding from the nose and mouth, rectum.
- Accumulation of fluid in the peritoneum.
- Spleen enlargement.
- Dilation of blood vessels around the navel.
With hepatitis, complications of this kind can lead to the death of the patient from acute inflammation of the peritoneum or bleeding from the digestive tract.
Inflammation of the liver due to cholecystitis
This disease can have both acute and chronic course. Often, the pathology of the gallbladder develops due to the formation of stones. Stones get into the ducts and interfere with their normal activity. This process requires immediate medical intervention, as it can lead to the development of acute inflammation of the peritoneum. Sometimes the patient has a chronic pathology of the gallbladder, not associated with the formation of calculi. Her symptoms are mild. But due to adverse factors, the disease can worsen. A common complication among patients with cholecystitis is reactive hepatitis. It is manifested by a feeling of heaviness and discomfort under the rib on the right, loss of appetite, fatigue, diarrhea, bouts of vomiting, discoloration of the stool and urine, sleep disturbance, yellowing of the epidermis.
Toxin-induced liver inflammation
The organ in question performs the function of neutralizing toxic substances. However, sometimes the concentration of dangerous compounds in the human body is too high. In this case, the liver is not able to carry out its activities in full. Inflammation occurs, which is associated with the death of body cells. The acute type of pathology develops approximately five days after a largeamount of hazardous substance.
Factors that provoke the disease include:
- Uncontrolled use of strong medications (antibiotics, anticonvulsants and tuberculosis).
- Industrial toxins (arsenic, phosphorus, oil components, weed control agents, insects).
- Alcohol-containing products (with excessive use and drinking of low quality alcohol).
- Plants containing poisonous substances. These are, for example, ragwort, mustard, mushrooms (pale toadstool, false honey agaric, fly agaric).
Liver damage by harmful compounds is manifested by unpleasant sensations under the rib on the right, bouts of vomiting, high fever, feeling of weakness, bleeding from the gums and nasal cavity. In some patients, there is a yellow color of the skin, a change in the shade of urine and stool, trembling of the limbs, and agitation. Complications of toxic hepatitis are a disorder of organ functions, swelling, disorders of the central nervous system and blood vessels, coma, cirrhosis.
Viral inflammation of the liver in children
Underage patients are most often victims of type A pathology.
Usually, infection occurs due to poor hygiene. This ailment, as a rule, passes without consequences. After about a month, with adequate treatment, recovery occurs. This hepatitis in children rarely gives complications. However, type B and C pathologies require constant monitoring and therapy. After alltheir consequence may be cirrhosis or death of the patient.
How to avoid infection? Main protection method
Vaccination is an effective way of prevention. A vaccine has been developed against types of pathology A and B. The first is done at the request of the patient.
The second is put in several stages and allows you to maintain the body's resistance for about 20 years. Complications after vaccination against type B hepatitis are rare. They can manifest themselves in the form of individual intolerance, inflammation of blood vessels or membranes of the brain, hypotension.
Other prevention methods
To protect yourself from exposure to viruses, you should follow the rules of hygiene, do not do manicures and tattoos in dubious salons, avoid unprotected intimate contact with unfamiliar persons, injections with reusable syringes. It is necessary to limit contact with a patient suffering from an acute form of pathology, do not use his personal belongings, hygiene items and utensils. In chronic hepatitis complications are dangerous. Therefore, patients need to be regularly monitored by a doctor and undergo therapy.
