Unveiling the secrets of hepatitis B treatment

There are two conventional treatment options for hepatitis B: interferon and long term medication that aims to control the replication of hepatitis virus. Both treatments aim to slow down and limit damage to the liver cells. [1] But in reality, how beneficial are these treatment methods to the patients’ overall health?

Interferon treatment has been widely used for many years. It is not only expensive and require regular injections;  its success rate is also low and has strong side effects, sometimes the side effects are so severe that they could be life threatening. [2] Other medications for hepatitis B also have some side effects, and require lifelong use. However, due to the toxicity of the medication itself, long term use actually causes damage to  liver and kidney function, and possibly leads to other health problems such as loss of appetite, sleeping problems or even liver diseases caused by toxins.

The liver is the organ responsible for breaking down food and drugs. All medications and drugs taken must be processed by the liver before they take effect, but drugs themselves also contain toxicity, therefore, long term use of any medication is not beneficial for the patient’s overall health. 

In view of this, hepatitis B patients should not focus on using long term medication to kill the virus. Instead, they should aim to reduce inflammation in the liver, and enhance the function and recovery of liver cells. This is the best way to improve liver health.

Although Western conventional medications have yet to achieve this result, it is possible in some alternative medicine such as traditional Chinese medicine, Japanese Kampo, etc. There is a large collection of scientific studies and clinical reports that proves that reducing liver inflammation, repairing liver cells and normalising ALT level is possible and highly effective. [3][4]

If hepatitis B patients wish to keep to Western medicine to control the viral count, they should also pay attention to liver and kidney protection, and try to reduce or mitigate the side effects brought by long term medications.