Your liver is an impressive organ. Located on the right side of your abdomen, it’s the largest internal organ in the human body and performs hundreds of different functions. Some of the most vital of these functions are:
- Helping your blood to clot
- Flushing toxins and waste out of your blood
- Producing bile to digest food
- Fighting infections
- Breaking down food to turn it into energy
- Helping your body absorb medications
In addition to helping your body with several essential functions, your liver has the ability to heal itself from certain types of damage. However, no organ is invincible and your liver can stop functioning the way it should, leading to conditions like jaundice and hepatitis.
What is Jaundice?
When your liver isn’t working properly, a waste product called bilirubin isn’t filtered out from the blood. Bilirubin can build up and this causes a person’s skin and eyes to look yellow in appearance. Other symptoms of jaundice can include darker than usual urine, tiredness, fever, and pale stools.
Jaundice can occur in people of all ages but is more common in older adults and in newborns. It’s usually the result of an underlying condition or cause like:
- Gallstone disorders
- Alcoholism
- Hepatitis
- Cirrhosis
- Certain types of cancers
What is Hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can soon become very serious. There are 5 main types of hepatitis, A, B, C, D, and E. They each have different causes, like infection, viruses, and excessive alcohol consumption.
Each form of hepatitis is considered a kind of liver disease and the severity varies from type to type. Types B and C are usually more serious and chronic, leading to lifelong complications like liver cancer and cirrhosis, or even death.
- Hepatitis A: An acute form of hepatitis caused by exposure to faeces of someone who is infected.
- Hepatitis B: A life threatening type of hepatitis spread through bodily fluids.
- Hepatitis C: A viral form of hepatitis that can lead to irreparable liver damage.
- Hepatitis D: Only people with hepatitis B can develop hepatitis D. It can be a short-term infection or can become chronic.
- Hepatitis E: An acute form of viral hepatitis that rarely becomes chronic.
The symptoms and severity of hepatitis depends on the type a person has become ill with. One common symptom that can appear in all types is jaundice, as well as stomach pain, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
Hepatitis Travel Vaccination in Ramsgate and Sydenham
Some types of hepatitis are less common in the UK but can be widespread in other countries including popular travel spots. Luckily, these types of hepatitis are preventable through hepatitis travel vaccinations. If you’re going to be at risk, protect your liver with hepatitis travel vaccination in Streatham and Bromley from Touchwood Pharmacy. Book your appointment today with us for hepatitis travel vaccination in Walsall. Call +44 (0) 844 561 7967 or click here to book an appointment.
