If not well controlled, many of them will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer. In response to World Hepatitis Day (July 28), many activities are organized to increase social awareness about hepatitis, thereby aiming to eliminate viral hepatitis in Vietnam.
Many young people have liver cancer
A 28-year-old male patient in Ninh Binh was transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases by Ninh Binh Provincial General Hospital with a diagnosis of liver cancer, hepatitis B. The patient was admitted to the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery - Gastroenterology & Oncology. tumor to do tests to assess the stage of the disease and consult to find an appropriate treatment plan.
The patient had a large 14cm diameter liver tumor. According to the father's share, 8 years ago, his son was working part-time for a foreign company when he had a traffic accident. After 22 days in a coma, his son regained consciousness, but his health and working capacity declined, his old job position was no longer available. Eight years later, he was shocked to receive information that his son had hepatitis B and liver cancer. The patient was very young, so after conducting a consultation, the doctors decided to perform liver resection, which is the most effective treatment for the patient.
BSCKI Pham Thi Viet Anh, Deputy Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital August 19, said that through the examination, there were many patients with hepatitis B but did not know, or knew but did not receive treatment; or have treatment for the first time, then quit smoking, do not follow the doctor's instructions, after a period of time after going to the doctor, the disease has progressed to liver cancer.
Having lost her biological mother from liver cancer on the background of hepatitis B, she herself contracted the virus when she was young, so Ms. PTT (36 years old, in Binh Duong) has completely followed the treatment regimen of her doctor. doctor. Thanks to that, Ms. T's health is stable. However, from May 5 up to now, Ms. T has subjectively not gone to the doctor and voluntarily quit taking medication.
When the body showed abnormal symptoms, at this time, when she went to the doctor, she and her family were extremely shocked with the diagnosis of terminal hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), monitoring lung metastasis. “For 3 weeks now, I have been feeling dull pain in the epigastrium, spreading to the right lower quadrant, tired, eating normally but still losing 2kg/month. My friends advised me to go to the doctor and I was really shocked by the bad news,” said Ms. T.
Subjectivity leads to a sad ending
Ths.BS Nguyen Quoc Phuong, Department of Intensive Care - Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said: In Vietnam, 8-10% of the population has hepatitis B, equivalent to about 8-10 million people. Hepatitis B is asymptomatic (except for acute hepatitis B or acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B). Therefore, the patient did not go to the doctor and did not find out that he was infected with the hepatitis B virus. The case of Mr. NKH (68 years old, Tien Du, Bac Ninh) is a typical example. Mr. H. used male medicine to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
He was only discovered by chance (not actively tested) for hepatitis B during his severe illness. When transferred to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, hepatitis B was at a late stage, with cirrhosis complications (decompensated cirrhosis) not excluding liver cancer.
Mr. B had to undergo intensive resuscitation treatment with a diagnosis of sepsis, liver pre-coma, cirrhosis, pneumonia, urgent blood transfusion... Despite his best efforts, the patient's condition was severe, predicting death. , his family asked him to take care of him at home.
Dr. Ngo Chi Cuong - Head of Infectious Diseases Department, Medlatec General Hospital said: Liver cancer is the leading "killer" of health in many countries around the world and Vietnam (ranked 3rd after lung cancer and lung cancer). stomach cancer), due to many causes such as hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, cirrhosis ...
If detected early, it is possible to apply radical treatment methods such as liver transplant, liver resection, but unfortunately, many cases are subjectively examined at a late stage. At this time, the liver tumor is large, or invasive and metastatic, so the treatment is extremely difficult and less effective, the goal of treatment is only to prolong the patient's life by methods such as embolization, or Targeted treatment…
“Once diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B, which means that the patient will have to live with the virus for a long time, up to now, this disease cannot be completely cured, so the management, monitoring and Treatment is a patient and persistent journey. Specific drugs to treat hepatitis B have the effect of inhibiting the HBV virus, thereby reducing the risk of disease progression leading to cirrhosis, preventing hepatitis B from being transmitted to others, as well as limiting complications for the disease. people", emphasized Dr. Cuong.
Unfortunately, many people are diagnosed with hepatitis B but do not adhere to treatment. Dr. Nguyen Thi Huyen, Head of the Department of Examination, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said: On average, about 9.000 people come to the hospital every month for hepatitis, of which many late arrivals are in the liver cancer stage. .
When infected with hepatitis B, patients must always take medicine on time, take certain drugs at 1 hour for many years, help suppress the virus in the body, to prevent cirrhosis, liver cancer, and have a normal quality of life. . Patients go to the clinic every 3-6 months for early detection and timely treatment of complications caused by hepatitis B such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
BS also recommends that people with a history of hepatitis B, C virus, alcoholism, especially patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, obesity, Aftatoxin poisoning, etc., should have regular health check-ups every 6 months to check control, early detection of abnormal lesions in the liver.
