According to Spanish research, eating dark chocolate can reduce the vascular damage of patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and lower the blood pressure of the liver. Dark chocolate contains strong antioxidants, which can reduce intrahepatic hypertension (portal hypertension) caused by vascular injury (endothelial dysfunction). These data also show that eating dark chocolate may have additional beneficial effects on the whole body. In contrast, white chocolate without "phytochemicals" will not have the same effect.

Chronic hepatitis B (hepatitis B for short), also known as serum hepatitis and viral hepatitis B, refers to those who are positive for hepatitis B virus, have a course of more than half a year or an unknown onset date, and have clinical manifestations of chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis B is transmitted through blood and body fluids, and it is chronically carried. Its clinical manifestations are fatigue, aversion to food, nausea, abdominal distension, liver pain and other symptoms. Because it may be transmitted through sexual life, it is listed as a sexually transmitted disease internationally. Hepatitis B is widespread in China, and the infection rate is high, reaching more than 35% in some areas. Hepatitis B has various clinical manifestations, and it is easy to develop into chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. A few patients can turn to primary liver cancer, and the main treatment is antiviral therapy.

Patient symptoms

Weakness of limbs, inattention, lethargy, fatigue, listlessness, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and symptoms such as fever, listlessness, abdominal pain and indigestion. In addition, when bilirubin in patients with hepatitis B rises, there will be symptoms such as jaundice, yellow skin, yellow eyes and yellow urine. Often there are no symptoms, so the disease will not be found.

clinical picture

System performance

Patients often feel weak, easily tired, and may be accompanied by mild fever. Insomnia and dreaminess may be related to this.

Gastrointestinal manifestations

In hepatitis, liver function is abnormal, bile secretion is reduced, and anorexia, nausea, oil aversion, epigastric discomfort, abdominal distension and so on often occur.

prejudice

When the condition is serious, the liver function is damaged, the intake, combination, secretion and excretion of bilirubin are damaged, and the concentration of bilirubin in the blood is increased. Bilirubin is excreted from the urine, and the urine turns yellow, which is the earliest manifestation of jaundice. The concentration of bilirubin in the blood continues to increase, which can cause yellow staining of eyes and skin. Due to bile acid excretion disorder, the concentration of bile acid in blood increases, and too much bile acid is deposited on the skin, which stimulates peripheral nerves and can cause skin itching.

Pain in liver area

Chronic hepatitis B generally has no severe pain. Some patients may have discomfort, dull pain, tenderness or percussion pain in the right upper abdomen and right quarter ribs. If the pain in the liver area is severe, we should also pay attention to the possibility of biliary tract diseases, liver cancer and gastrointestinal diseases to avoid misdiagnosis.

Hepatosplenomegaly

Due to inflammation, congestion, edema and cholestasis, patients often have hepatomegaly. In the late stage, a large number of hepatocytes are destroyed, fibrous tissue contracts, and the liver can shrink. In the early stage of acute hepatitis or chronic hepatitis, there is no obvious splenomegaly. When portal hypertension occurs, the spleen is congested, which can cause splenomegaly.

Extrahepatic manifestations

Patients with chronic hepatitis B, especially patients with liver cirrhosis, have a dark face, which is called liver disease face. The palm of your hand is big and the thenar is obviously congested, which is called the liver palm. A cluster of radially expanding spider-like capillaries on the skin is called spider nevus, and other parts can also appear. Men may have erectile dysfunction, symmetric or asymmetric breast hyperplasia, swelling and pain, breast development, and may occasionally be misdiagnosed as breast cancer; Women may have menstrual disorders, amenorrhea and decreased libido. This may be related to the decline of liver function, the decrease of estrogen inactivation and the increase of estrogen in the body.

hepatic fibrosis

Chronic hepatitis B inflammation exists for a long time, with repeated attacks, and hepatic fibrous connective tissue proliferates, but its degradation activity is relatively or absolutely insufficient, and a large amount of extracellular matrix deposits to form liver fibrosis. If liver fibrosis is accompanied by the destruction of hepatic lobule structure (liver regenerative nodules), it is called cirrhosis. It is difficult to separate them completely in clinic. Chronic liver disease is a continuous development process from hepatic fibrosis to cirrhosis.