World Hepatitis Day: Stay Healthy. Live(r) Healthy
Know all about your Liver this Hepatitis Day – Vivek Bhatia in conversation with Dr Amit Agarwal
28th July is World Hepatitis Day. Every 30 seconds, the world loses a life to the deadly disease of Viral Hepatitis, which happens due to the inflammation of the Liver. WHO’s this year’s theme is “Hepatitis can’t wait”, conveying the urgency of efforts needed to eliminate Hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
Dhani’s Brand Head, Vivek Bhatia, spoke to Dr Amit Agarwal about the importance of a Healthy Liver, the prevention and precaution we all need to practice to stay afar from this wrath of Hepatitis Dr. Amit Agarwal is a Senior General Practitioner at Dhani and has few decades of experience in internal medicine.
Let’s start with the very basics, Dr; tell us about the importance of a Healthy Liver.
Our Liver is responsible for many functions, such as removing toxins from our body, helping in digestion by producing something called bile and being a source of energy to the body. So naturally, if the Liver is not functioning well, all these functions are affected, which has a deleterious effect on one’s health.
What are the different things that can make the Liver unhealthy?
The Liver can be affected by many things. Just like any other organ, infections can occur in the Liver, and we call this Hepatitis. Very commonly, if too much fat gets stored in the Liver, it can lead to something called a fatty liver disease; this can be due to the consumption of too much alcohol or NAFLD. This can lead to cirrhosis or liver failure if ignored or left untreated. NAFLD is usually linked to obesity and high level of fats and sugars in the body. Cancers of the Liver can also occur.
What are the symptoms of liver disease?
Usually, liver diseases do not get diagnosed till late, and it may be difficult to notice any symptoms. We can lookout for a few signs that might point toward liver disease, such as:
- Yellowing of the eyes or skin (jaundice)
- Persistent itching that does not subside with usual treatments
- Swelling of the abdomen
- Swelling of the ankles
- Long-standing tiredness or fatigue
- Dark or clay coloured stools
What can we do to keep our Liver healthy?
We can take care of our Liver in the following ways-
- Take a healthy diet
- Have a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats
- Maintain a healthy weight. If overweight or obese, decrease your calorie intake
- Exercise regularly and consistently
- Avoid alcohol or drink in moderation
Apart from this, we should all get a health check-up done periodically. Many times, liver abnormalities will not show any signs or symptoms till late and will only be picked up on blood tests. Your doctor will ask you to get a metabolic panel or liver profile done as part of your regular health check-up – do discuss your liver health with your doctor.
Any message for our readers?
I would just like to say that liver disease is relatively common and can go undiagnosed for a very long time by when it can become difficult to treat. As I mentioned, please get your regular health check-ups done so that any underlying illness can be pick up and managed early on. Please do not ignore and get in touch with your doctor. At DHANI, we have an experienced team of doctors who can help you with any health concerns your might have- please do reach out.
Importantly to help in building awareness of Hepatitis, we are offering Liver Functioning Test (LFT) at ₹699 only, with FREE home collection facility and FREE Doctor consultation worth ₹500. One can book for this test by just calling on this number: 7678356104
Thank you so much for joining us today Dr Amit. Your insights, prevention, and precaution tips will help us all. For all our readers, if you have any health-related queries, do write to us at zone@dhani.com or leave us a DM on any of our social media handles. We will make sure to address your questions in our next session.
