Drug induced liver injury is quite common. Herbal and non-licensed medicines taken without doctor’s consultations are on the rise as a cause of liver injury and liver failure. Even innocuous looking Chinese tea has been associated with liver failure and death.Beware of all the drugs that you take.
With this era of self-medication and taking various non-licensed products for reasons like weight loss, cosmetic improvement, better digestion and even liver protection are the reasons for liver failure. In western world, paracetamol is the most common cause of acute liver failure. In India besides the drugs taken for tuberculosis, herbal products are the cause of liver injury. Painkillers are often the culprit.
Most of the times, DILI just presents with worsening of liver tests without causing any symptoms initially. Only when the liver injury is severe enough does it cause symptoms. You can have nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and even jaundice. They tend to resolve with stoppage of medicines. However, on occasions it can progress to liver failure and may even need liver transplantation.
There is no test which can predict liver injury caused by drugs. The only safe way is to be aware about it and avoid taking any unnecessary non-prescribed medicines.
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