2016-05-10

Hepatitis B: Maintaining normal ALT level can prevent lifelong medication treatment

According to the treatment guidelines published by WHO (World Health Organisation) in 2015, antiviral therapy is not recommended for hepatitis B patients with persistently normal ALT levels regardless of age. [1] Some patients may find this strange, why is antiviral treatment not recommended when virus is in their body?

This is because normal levels of ALT enzymes indicate that liver cells are not injured, and that there is no inflammation in the liver. So try to think of it the other way round, why would you require any medications when your liver is completely healthy? Rather than focusing on eliminating the virus from the body, the main objectives of treatment for hepatitis B patients should be to maintain a normal ALT level. Only this can guarantee that the liver is not damaged, and prevent liver fibrosis, cirrhosis or liver cancer. Patients should understand that the cause of these chronic diseases is not the virus itself, but the inflammation in the liver.

We recently received a blood test report from a YHK user. [2] This user has been using YHK for a number of years for liver protection. The blood test result shows that although the viral count of HBV is high, the ALT liver enzyme level remained normal. Many specialists advised this user not to take antiviral treatment after seeing persistently normal ALT levels results, and only recommended regular check-ups and monitoring. This is an example of the importance of normal ALT level, and also clearly shows that a high level of virus does not necessarily equals more liver damage.

Below are the user’s previous liver function test results:

Test Date	ALT	AST	HBV DNA
2012-05-30	41	27	170,000,000 UI/ml
2012-09-10	24	18	-
2013-03-08	14	22	12,600,000 UI/ml
2014-02-14	13	17	588,000,000 UI/ml
2014-08-27	12	18	368,400,000 UI/ml
2015-03-10	12	20	403,200,000 UI/ml
2016-03-12	11	19	25,200,000 UI/ml

* This user takes 4 YHK tablets per day.

Reference:

Disclaimer:

* All research and clinical data should be used as reference purposes only, results may vary.

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