Addiction Recovery Basics

A person who is in recovery can have decreased liver function well after quitting drinking. In my case, these showed as liver test numbers "out of range". When my alcohol history was revealed, investigation stopped. It turned out I had Hepatitus C and it went undetected 15 years into recovery. It is critical for your health to get specific tests for Hepatitus and other immuine system diseases, and be aware a drinking history may mask other underlying conditions.

WHAT IS HEPATITIS?

Hepatitis is a disease of the liver, which is part of the digestive tract. The liver helps filter out toxic materials, builds proteins for the body, and stores vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. A person needs a functioning liver to stay alive.

When a person has hepatitis, the liver becomes sick or inflamed because it has been infected with a virus. Though it can take many years to happen, this sickness can cause more serious liver problems and death. The problems can include:

1. Cirrhosis (permanent scarring of the liver that reduces blood flow)

2. Liver failure (the liver is unable to function)

3. Liver cancer,  (cancer cells attack the liver)

There are many kinds of hepatitis viruses, but the most serious ones are hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Preventing infection with hepatitis B and hepatitis C, or taking care of oneself if one has the infection, is important to prevent liver damage and death.

TESTS FOR HEPATITIS B, HEPATITIS C AND HIV

Most people who have these viruses do not have symptoms until long after they get the virus, and they might not have any symptoms at all. Therefore, people need to get blood tests to tell if they are infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV. A person should get tested if he or she has had any of the risk factors listed in Table 1. Since people with dual disorders are at such high risk to be exposed to these viruses, they should all be offered a blood test to see if they are infected. If your client was tested in the past and the results were negative, but they have since been involved in risk behaviors, they should be re-tested every six months.

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