You may have heard people describe chronic hepatitis B as a "silent killer." Here's why: The hepatitis B virus can attack your liver and cause serious damage — all the while you may experience few, if any, symptoms. In fact, as many as 30% of people who have chronic hepatitis B experience no symptoms at all. For this reason, it is important that you take the medication your doctor prescribes for chronic hepatitis B, even if you feel perfectly fine. Never underestimate the damage that hepatitis B can do to your liver and your overall health.

As you know, the hepatitis B virus attacks your liver, preventing it from performing many tasks that are essential to your body's basic ability to function. Without treatment, chronic hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a condition that destroys liver tissue.

More importantly, cirrhosis can lead to liver cancer, which is by far the most critical risk factor for those with hepatitis B. In fact, chronic hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer worldwide — accounting for about 80% of all cases. Like hepatitis B itself, liver cancer usually does not cause symptoms in the early stages. As a result, it is not until the cancer is more advanced (and therefore more difficult to treat) that many people are diagnosed. The American Cancer Society estimates that 18,510 new cases of primary liver cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, while about 16,200 people will die of the disease.

   

If you are already taking medication for chronic hepatitis B, it is essential to continue taking it as long as your doctor says you should. If you stop taking your medication, you could contract a very serious form of hepatitis B — usually within 12 weeks after stopping treatment. Only your doctor should decide when and if you should discontinue treatment.

All of this information points to the same fact: It is extremely important you follow your doctor's guidance and treatment recommendations closely. In most cases, your doctor will perform blood tests and possibly a liver biopsy to evaluate the health status of your liver. If he or she prescribes medication, it is important that you take it, even if you feel perfectly fine without it. After all, your doctor is the only one with the knowledge and skills to accurately evaluate and monitor your health.

To partner with your doctor in monitoring your health, you can track your lab test results using our Treatment Tracker. With this helpful tool, you can see how treatment affects the amount of virus in your body and how your liver is responding. Click here to download your copy of the Treatment Tracker. So, even when you don't have symptoms, you can know what's really going on inside your body.

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