Know the early symptoms of hepatitis B in advance

Hepatitis B is a common disease in our lives. A large number of people in our country suffer from hepatitis B. Many people in our lives may not know much about hepatitis B and do not know that they have hepatitis B. Understanding the symptoms of hepatitis B will help everyone to detect and treat it in time and avoid the deterioration of the disease. So let’s learn about the symptoms of hepatitis B.

1. Systemic symptoms: Hepatitis B patients often feel physically weak, easily fatigued, and lack of energy. The reasons may be damaged liver function, reduced food intake, food digestion and absorption disorders, and insufficient nutrient intake. On the other hand, due to inflammation, consumption increases, and the ingested substances cannot be fully metabolized to meet the body's needs due to damaged liver function. The third aspect may be the mental and psychological stress caused by hepatitis B, which affects rest and sleep. Insomnia and nightmares may be related to this.

Hepatitis B patients often feel physically weak, easily fatigued, and lack of energy.

2. Digestive symptoms: The liver is an important digestive organ, and the bile secreted by the liver is necessary for food digestion. In hepatitis, bile secretion decreases, affecting the digestion and absorption of food. Inflammation of the liver may also cause blood flow obstruction in the hepatic sinusoids, leading to congestion and edema of the gastrointestinal tract, affecting the digestion and absorption of food. Therefore, hepatitis B often causes symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, aversion to oil, upper abdominal discomfort, and bloating.

3. Jaundice: The liver is the center of bilirubin metabolism. When the condition is severe, the bilirubin concentration in the blood increases due to disorders in the uptake, binding, secretion, and excretion of bilirubin. When the bilirubin concentration in the blood increases, bilirubin is excreted from the urine, making the urine darker. It is the earliest manifestation of jaundice. However, sweating in hot weather, lack of water intake, and some medications can also cause changes in urine color, so you should be careful to distinguish them. When the bilirubin concentration in the blood continues to increase, it may cause jaundice of the eyes and skin. Due to the excretion disorder of bile acid, the concentration of bile acid in the blood increases and excessive bile acid is deposited in the skin. Stimulates peripheral nerves and causes skin itching.

4. Pain in the liver area: There is a lack of pain nerves inside the liver, so hepatitis B generally does not cause severe pain. However, there is a very thin membrane on the surface of the liver, called the hepatic capsule. There are pain nerves distributed on the hepatic capsule. When the liver becomes inflamed and swollen, the hepatic capsule becomes tense and the pain nerves are stimulated. As a result, some patients may have discomfort and dull pain in the right upper abdomen and right hypochondrium. If the pain is severe, you should also pay attention to the possibility of bile duct disease, liver cancer, and gastrointestinal disease to avoid misdiagnosis.

5. Hepatosplenomegaly: Due to inflammation, congestion, edema, and cholestasis, hepatitis B often causes liver enlargement. If the chronic inflammatory period is not cured and recurs, the fibrous connective tissue in the liver will proliferate and the liver will become hard. In the late stage, due to the destruction of a large number of liver cells and the contraction of fibrous tissue, the liver may shrink. In acute hepatitis or the early stages of chronic hepatitis, the spleen is usually not obviously enlarged, but later it may develop due to hyperplasia of the splenic reticuloendothelial system and portal hypertension. Splenic congestion causes splenomegaly. Persistent, progressive splenomegaly suggests cirrhosis.

6. Extrahepatic manifestations: Many patients with chronic hepatitis, especially those with cirrhosis, have dark and dull complexions, which are called liver disease faces. This may be due to endocrine disorders, skin pigmentation, or due to persistent or recurrent jaundice and deposition of biliverdin in the skin. Significant congestion of the thenar and hypothenar eminences of the palm is called liver palm. A cluster of radially dilated capillaries on the skin is called a spider nevus. It is several millimeters to several centimeters in diameter and fades when pressed. It is commonly found on the face, neck, chest and back of the hands. Spider nevi can occasionally be distributed throughout the body.