What are the different states of hepatitis B infection? What will be the outcome? Can it be cured on its own? The doctor will tell you

We come to this world and walk around, and eventually we will leave. Some people's journey is longer, some people's journey is shorter. Regardless of the length, we will all leave our mark in this world.

Many friends who are in poor health are afraid of staying in this world too short, such as those infected with hepatitis B virus. For friends who lack knowledge of hepatitis B prevention and treatment, hepatitis B is like a temporary bomb and they don’t know when it will explode.

According to statistics released by the World Health Organization, the number of people infected with hepatitis B virus in the world is about 325 million. There are about 90 million people infected with hepatitis B virus in my country, and about 28 million hepatitis B patients, but among the hepatitis B patients who meet the treatment indications, only a few million are receiving treatment, which means there is a huge treatment gap.

In 2020, my country reported 902,476 cases of hepatitis B virus infection and 464 deaths. Although there is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis B, some people in remote areas or with relatively low levels of knowledge lack knowledge about hepatitis B, so hepatitis B virus infection is still prevalent.

We have carried out a lot of publicity and popular science on hepatitis B prevention and control knowledge, but social discrimination against hepatitis B still exists. For example, people infected with hepatitis B are excluded when looking for jobs or partners, which is very unfavorable to hepatitis B prevention and control.

Classification of hepatitis B virus infected people are medically divided into two categories, and the classification criteria are the liver function, hepatitis B virus DNA, etc. of the infected person.

If a person infected with hepatitis B virus has liver function within the normal range for a long time, hepatitis B virus DNA is below the detection limit, and he does not have any physical discomfort, he is called a hepatitis B virus carrier; if the infected person develops liver function damage and requires timely treatment, he is called a hepatitis B patient.

Most people infected with hepatitis B virus are hepatitis B virus carriers. Some people will never develop the disease, while a small number of people will suffer liver damage and develop into hepatitis B patients. Once they develop into hepatitis B patients, timely treatment can completely control the disease.

The prognosis of hepatitis B virus-infected patients without treatment can be in three directions: one is that the body clears the virus and achieves natural recovery; the second is to be a lifelong virus carrier without any clinical manifestations or discomfort; the third is to develop hepatitis and then progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

1. Natural recovery

Many people may not believe that hepatitis B can heal itself, but hepatitis B can indeed heal itself. Its annual incidence rate is about 1%-2%, which is relatively low. For people infected through mother-to-child transmission, the self-healing rate will be even lower.

Whether or not self-healing can be achieved is related to many factors. The first is age. Adults have a relatively high self-healing rate because their immune systems are fully functional and can identify and kill hepatitis B viruses. The younger the age, the lower the self-healing rate. After adults are infected with hepatitis B, they are basically in an acute infection state and rarely develop into a chronic infection.

2. Pathogen Carrier Status

Most people infected with hepatitis B virus will never develop the disease throughout their lives, and will be in a pathogen carrier state. Through immunological examinations, it can be found that they are infected with hepatitis B virus, but liver function tests are always normal and the body does not have any clinical discomfort.

However, the pathogen carrier state is an intermediate state. It can heal itself and achieve negative etiology, or it can develop into hepatitis, cirrhosis or even liver cancer.

The pathogen carrier status requires physical examinations and attention to many aspects of life, which will be described in detail later.

3. Develop into hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer

Some people, without treatment, physical examinations, or physical maintenance, eventually develop cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to statistics, 80% of liver cancer patients are related to hepatitis B virus infection, which is indeed regrettable.

Precautions for people infected with hepatitis B virus: First of all, they should have regular physical examinations. They need to check liver function and abdominal color ultrasound every three months, check hepatitis B virus DNA and hepatitis B two-pair-and-a-half every six months, and check alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) once a year. This will allow liver lesions to be detected early and allow for early intervention and treatment.

Second, people infected with the hepatitis B virus need to absolutely quit smoking and drinking. Smoking is harmful to all organs of the human body and will aggravate systemic inflammatory reactions; 90% of the alcohol consumed by the human body is metabolized and excreted through the liver. Alcohol can induce inflammatory changes in liver cells and promote the development of hepatitis towards cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Third, you need to have a positive attitude to accept the fact of infection. Many people infected with hepatitis B virus are afraid of being discriminated against by others, and become depressed and negative. Depression and negativity will damage the body's immune system and are not conducive to the control of the disease.

Fourth, avoid spicy food and eat more vegetables and fruits. Spicy food can promote the body's inflammatory response. Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins and mineral ions, which are beneficial to the repair of damaged liver cells.

Fifth, except for patients with liver failure who need to rest in bed, other patients should perform appropriate exercises according to their condition, such as brisk walking, jogging, Tai Chi, etc.

Sixth, avoid staying up late. The saying that staying up late hurts the liver has been around since ancient times, because the liver corresponds to wood in the five elements and corresponds to the midnight hour (11pm to 1am the next day) in the time of the day. This time period is the best time to nourish the liver.

In summary, hepatitis B virus carriers may eventually recover on their own, or they may remain carriers for life, or they may develop hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, which is related to many factors. I hope everyone will pay attention to hepatitis B and prevent it. People infected with hepatitis B should not feel burdened by hepatitis B, but learn to make friends with hepatitis B. We can think about it in reverse. After being infected with hepatitis B, we will take better care of our bodies and pay more attention to physical examinations. Maybe we will be more "healthy"?

Doctor Bobo is also a hepatitis B patient. He has been taking antiviral treatment for more than five years and all indicators are normal. If you have any questions about hepatitis B, you can follow me and send me a private message. If you think the article is well written, you can also like and follow it.