How to deal with chronic inflammation of the Liver?
Chronic Inflammation of the liver or the scientific word Autoimmune Hepatitis is the disease where the body’s immune system attacks the liver. It is usually referred to as a chronic condition that can lead to scarring of the liver. The more severe damage it can do is liver failure. No need to worry, now you can keep your liver safe by preventing it from any kind of damage with the help of steroids.
What is Autoimmune Hepatitis?
Before you learn about the treatment it is better to understand the disease. Just break down the terms that is, Autoimmune which indicates the immune system of a person’s body that is attacking on different parts of the body, and Hepatitis which means inflammation of the liver. Some medical professionals also called this disease autoimmune chronic hepatitis.
Though there is no such treatment that can cure the disease completely but can prevent any severe damage to your liver. It is a disease that you need to monitor for life.
What are the symptoms of Autoimmune Hepatitis?
If you are in the early stage of this disease then you will hardly notice any symptoms. While in the later stages, one will face mild or severe symptoms that usually develop over-time.
Common AIH symptoms include –
- Change in urine color, usually dark yellow.
- Enlarged liver
- Weight loss and lack of appetite
- Abdominal swelling
Some other symptoms that can make you feel tired –
- Jaundice
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Irregular menstrual period
- Rashes on skin
- Acnes
- Joint Pain
- Issues related to brain
- Loss of appetite
- Fatigue
- Itching
Types of Autoimmune Hepatitis
Autoimmune Hepatitis has two common types –
Type 1 – It is commonly seen in women of age 15-40.
Type 2 – This is very rare and usually seen in girls whose age is between 2-14
Treatment
If there are no visible symptoms in a body then a health practitioner will never recommend treatment at that moment. To make sure your liver is healthy, your doctor can prescribe you a blood test.
Corticosteroids
Once your doctor notices any symptoms or the lab reports are showing worse results then the very first treatment of choice is Corticosteroids. This is a type of man-made steroid which is completely different from anabolic steroids.
Corticosteroids, in the form of Prednisone (an artificial steroid), are given to the patient to ease inflammation, more specifically liver inflammation. Your doctor may choose this anti-inflammatory drug to treat AIH. As per your condition, you might be prescribed higher doses and then decrease the frequency of the dose.
In some cases, health care practitioners use budesonide steroids in place of prednisone. Along with this, there are some drugs that carry anti-inflammatory properties such as azathioprine, methotrexate, etc.
Usually, it takes 3 years of treatment for the severe disease to get back in the normal state. In some cases, there may be a need for treatment that can help in maintaining remission after taking steroids. Still, if a patient is facing relapses, he/she will be given a temporary course of steroids.
Before taking any treatment, make sure to consult with your practitioner first.