After a period of treating hepatitis B with traditional medicine, the patient's liver function only reached 13.6%, he fell into a deep coma and did not survive.
A 47-year-old female patient from Lac Son, Hoa Binh was hospitalized with severe liver failure on the basis of hepatitis B virus cirrhosis, accompanied by pneumonia and a very high risk of hepatic coma, abdominal distension, jaundice, and yellow eyes.
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| Vietnamese traditional medicine is very good if used properly, but if you do not know how to use it or use poor quality medicine of unknown origin, it will cause unpredictable consequences. |
For a long time, the patient did not go for a health check-up, so he did not know he had hepatitis B. Around August 2024, the patient had a gradually increasing abdominal distension. When he went for a check-up, he discovered that he had hepatitis B and had developed cirrhosis.
However, the patient did not take the medicine prescribed by the doctor but bought herbal medicine of unknown origin to treat the disease. After taking herbal medicine for 10 days, the patient began to have jaundice, yellow eyes, fatigue, poor appetite, and a bloated stomach.
On September 4, 2024, the patient was admitted to a local medical facility for treatment with cirrhosis and ascites, liver function was 15%, so abdominal fluid was drained.
On September 16, 2024, the patient was transferred to the Hepatitis Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in a very serious condition with symptoms: severe liver failure on the background of hepatitis B cirrhosis accompanied by pneumonia, liver enzymes increased more than 11 times, jaundice, and obvious yellow eyes. Liver function only reached 13.6% and there was a very high risk of hepatic coma.
After 2 weeks of treatment, the patient had a disturbance of consciousness and was lethargic, so he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit and had to be placed on a ventilator. However, the patient did not respond to the medication and his condition became more critical. The family requested that the patient be transferred to home care.
Doctor Nguyen Quang Huy, Department of Hepatitis, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that the initial cause of cirrhosis was due to the patient having hepatitis B but not being treated, so the disease progressed to cirrhosis with ascites. At this stage, the patient made another mistake of taking herbal medicine to treat the disease. This led to severe acute liver failure.
Similar to patient BTH but luckier, patient BTQ, 34 years old, also in Hoa Binh, did not know when she had contracted hepatitis B. In August 2023, she felt tired and had a poor appetite, so she went for a health check and discovered she had hepatitis B.
Ms. Q. was prescribed antiviral medication by her doctor. After four months of taking the medication, she stopped taking it on her own and switched to using Solanum procumbens, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and An xoa to detoxify her liver. She carefully researched the effects of the plants online, so Ms. Q. felt secure in using them.
By the end of September 2024, Ms. Q. had symptoms of fatigue, poor appetite, and unusual jaundice and was admitted to a hospital near her home with a diagnosis of acute liver failure on the basis of hepatitis B. After 5 days of treatment, the disease did not improve, so she was transferred to the Hepatitis Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases with symptoms of jaundice, yellow eyes increased more than 20 times, acute liver failure, liver function reached 49%, liver enzyme index increased 25 times higher than normal index.
After 3 weeks of treatment, patient Q.'s liver failure condition has improved. According to Dr. Nguyen Quang Huy, Ms. Q. is a lucky case.
Doctor Huy recommends that if you want to know if you have hepatitis B or not, you can go to local medical facilities near your home such as district hospitals, county hospitals, preventive medicine centers, vaccine centers, provincial hospitals, etc., or the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases to get tested for HBsA.
If HBsAg is positive, it means you have hepatitis B. You need to have your condition checked at an infectious disease specialist or a hepatobiliary specialist periodically as scheduled by your doctor.
Usually, people with chronic hepatitis B are healthy and have no symptoms. Therefore, patients are often subjective and the disease will progress without knowing it.
Therefore, people with hepatitis B need to follow the regular check-up schedule as scheduled by a specialist. This is extremely important, helping patients discuss their condition with their doctor, as well as promptly detect the stage of the disease for treatment, preventing complications such as liver failure, cirrhosis, and liver cancer from occurring.
Currently, the specific treatment for hepatitis B is antiviral drugs that help inhibit the hepatitis B virus. There are many different antiviral drugs, suitable for each specific patient, so you need to talk to your doctor to get the best treatment method...
Also facing trouble due to treating hepatitis B with herbal medicine of unknown origin, the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases has just received two male patients with liver failure related to taking herbal medicine of unknown origin.
The first patient is Mr. NND, 64 years old, from Bac Giang. Mr. D. discovered hepatitis B 30 years ago. For the past 3 years, he has been treated with antiviral drugs. For the past 5 months, he has been taking traditional medicine to treat hepatitis B.
However, over the past month, Mr. D. has been feeling tired and his jaundice has increased. Mr. D. went to a medical facility for treatment and was discharged after 1 week.
When he returned home, Mr. D. felt more tired, had a poor appetite, urinated less, had dark yellow stools, and had constipation. His family took him to the hospital for treatment. A day later, Mr. D. was transferred to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Mr. D. was hospitalized with dark yellow skin and eyes, diagnosed with acute liver failure - cirrhosis - chronic hepatitis B. Doctors explained to the patient's family about his condition, the prognosis was very serious, and the risk of hepatic coma.
The second patient is Mr. TNT, 64 years old from Hung Yen. The patient has no chronic diseases, no hepatitis B, C, and does not drink alcohol.
For the past 3 years, Mr. T. has been taking traditional Chinese medicine (about 2 times a year). About 3 weeks before being hospitalized, the patient took traditional Chinese medicine for 10 days to treat gallstones. After taking the medicine, the patient felt tired and had a poor appetite.
The patient was hospitalized for 2 weeks for treatment, but after being discharged, he felt tired again. His family took him to the Hepatitis Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment. The patient was diagnosed with toxic hepatitis, including acute hepatitis.
Doctor CKII Nguyen Nguyen Huyen, Head of the Examination Department at Kim Chung facility, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases analyzed that liver failure means that the liver's functions have been impaired, unable to ensure normal functions. When the liver's functions are impaired, the body will be affected.
For example, with hepatic encephalopathy, the patient may experience a coma due to the liver, and then the patient may develop hepatorenal syndrome, which is kidney failure due to the liver. If the liver failure is too severe, the mortality rate can be as high as 50 to 70%.
Toxic hepatitis is hepatitis caused by toxins, which can be alcohol, drugs, or chemicals...
When these toxins enter the body, they destroy liver cells, gradually impairing liver function. When the liver cannot ensure normal functions, it leads to liver failure, multiple organ failure such as hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome.
At that time, the patient may fall into a hepatic coma, with a high mortality rate. To avoid unfortunate situations that may occur, Dr. Nguyen Nguyen Huyen recommends that patients with hepatitis B who are being treated must strictly adhere to antiviral drugs and must not stop taking the drug unless prescribed by a doctor.
Second, when people take any medicine, they must find out its origin clearly. They must not take medicine or products of unknown origin.
If you have accidentally taken drugs of unknown origin and experience symptoms of fatigue, discomfort, or yellow urine, you must immediately go to the nearest medical facility for timely diagnosis and treatment.
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