A 34-year-old woman had a medical treatment due to abdominal distension and brown urine. She suspected that she took herbal medicine for care before she became sick. As a result, her liver function was severe and abnormal, and she was suspected to b...
A 34-year-old woman had a medical treatment due to abdominal distension and brown urine. She suspected that she took herbal medicine for care before she became sick. As a result, her liver function was severe and abnormal, and she was suspected to be drug-induced hepatitis. Another girl also caused hepatitis due to taking health foods. Doctors remind you to take less unwanted drugs.
Wang Zhitang, director of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatitis at the Reporter Conference today, said at the reporter that abnormal liver function is a common problem in clinics and can be divided into viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, and C), alcoholic hepatitis, non-alcoholic hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, and drug hepatitis.
Wang Zhitang said that the pathogenic mechanism of drug hepatitis may be related to factors such as the drug itself or its surrogate product, drug dosage, patient's own body, age, whether other diseases are combined or multiple drugs are used simultaneously.
After clinical observation, Wang Zhitang pointed out that the public's inappropriate supplementation, taking inappropriate Chinese herbal medicines, food supplements that sound effective, healthy foods, etc. may also cause drug-induced hepatitis. In Taiwan, 25% of drug-induced hepatitis is caused by Chinese herbal medicine, and 20% are related to anti-nuclear drugs.
Wang Zhitang said that because Chinese herbal medicine is mostly a compound prescription when taken, and some people may pick or buy Chinese herbal medicines from the fields at will. If adverse drug reactions occur, the causal relationship is often not confirmed. Some people even use Chinese and Western medicine to deal with it, most commonly seen are sedatives, painkillers, etc.
Pharmactic hepatitis patients with clinical symptoms have symptoms similar to acute hepatitis, such as brown urine, abdominal distension, inflammation, stomach discomfort, poor appetite, easy fatigue, etc. Most of them do not have obvious symptoms, and a small number of severe cases may develop explosive hepatitis or liver failure.
Wang Zhitang said that in addition to the excessive dose of acetaminophen poisoning, there is no special drug to treat, so only the disease-causing drugs should be stopped as early as possible and supportive treatment will be given, which will have the opportunity to restore liver function.
Wang Zhitang said that many people have misconceptions, believing that taking medicine is "treated if you have any illness, but you have no illness to strengthen your health", and may also take health foods overdo it. You should change your misconceptions and take less medicines that are not necessary. Use Chinese herbal medicines with caution. You should find a qualified Chinese doctor for diagnosis. Do not take folk remedies with unknown ways. You should avoid drinking when using medicines.
However, Wang Zhitang said that people should not stop taking medications that should be taken regularly just because they are afraid of taking medicine to damage their liver, so as not to have a major impact on their health.
If symptoms related to abnormal liver function occur, you should take medicine as early as possible to avoid chronic liver disease or even liver cancer.
