Hepatitis is the med term for liver inflammation. When your liver is inflamed it swells, which causes an impairment to its ability to function and damage to its tissue.
You can’t live healthfully without a properly functioning liver because it:
- stores energy
- metabolizes drugs
- regulates fat stores
- processes nutrients
- removes toxic waste
- helps control infections
- clears poisons from your blood
- assists in digesting food via producing bile
- controls production & release of cholesterol
- transforms food into energy, blood clotting factors, immune factors, hormones & proteins
So yeah, your liver is a vital organ for a healthy life. And causing it to inflame is not good.
Inflammation of the liver may result from many circumstances.The most frequent cause is a viral infection, notoriously viral hepatitis A, B, C, D, & E. Yet, mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus, amebic dysentery or yellow fever infections can give rise to a swollen liver.
There are other causes for hepatitis as well, such as:
- alcohol
- liver infection
- autoimmune disease
- poisonous mushrooms
- incompatible blood transfusion
- exposure to certain toxic chemicals
Certain drugs are known to cause swollen liver hepatitis. OTC pain relievers may cause and inflamed liver, specifically:
- aspirin
- naproxen ~ Aleve
- ibuprofen ~ Advil, Motrin
- acetaminophen ~Tylenol
These drugs have the potential to affect liver function or even permanently damage it when taken regularly. And all prescription drugs have the potential to injure your liver.
Combining any drug with just a moderate amount of alcohol significantly increases their toxic effect. So don’t drink and drug.
Some herbs can cause swollen liver damage. Or interact with prescription drugs to create even more serious side effects than if you had taken them alone. Herbs deemed highly damaging to your liver are:
- Kava
- Comfrey
- Cascara
- Chaparral
- Ma-huang
Symptoms indicating your liver isn’t functioning right due to inflammation include:
- diarrhea
- jaundice
- joint pain
- dark urine
- weight loss
- muscle aches
- abdominal pain
- loss of appetite
- extreme fatigue
- nausea & vomiting
- pale, clay colored stools
- right upper abdomen tenderness
Some cases of swollen liver inflammation cause no symptoms. On the flip side, if your hepatitis is severe enough liver failure can be a consequence.
Sometimes, a liver can regenerate tissue and heal itself from the detrimental symptom effects of hepatitis. But repeated or extensive damage can lead to cirrhosis, chronic liver dysfunction or cancer.
There are vaccines available for some types of viral hepatitis.
