GENERAL HEALTH TIPS

Exercise your body daily.

If you have the time,try to learn any martial art [taekwondo,boxing, karate etc] for self protection.

Eat at least three different fruits a day

Do not consume too much fat to prevent obesity.

LIVER DISEASE

Liver disease is complex, varied and fluctuates, meaning that no one ’s experience of liver disease is the same as another. Your experience of liver problems may vary from day to day. This is partly because the liver has a huge number of functions and so liver failure can affect almost every part of your body and the way you feel,

This guide is for people living with a liver condition, and their families, to explain some of the emotional, physical and practical problems of the disease. It will help you to manage your condition by suggesting questions to ask, choices which you can make for your care and highlighting the help and services which are available,

“Treat every day in as positive a manner as you can. Don’t ask yourself ‘Why me?’ as you cannot change the past. ” Phil, Hampshire,

“I always find when talking to people about my own liver condition, I refer to how I live around and with it.” Judith, Birmingham.

LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF.

Vaccines and protecting yourself from infection.

People with liver disease are more vulnerable to infections, and if they do get an illness, are more likely to become severely ill. As a result, it is really important to keep up-to-date with vaccinations. As with medications, it is important to make the doctor or nurse aware of your liver condition and tell them if there have been any changes in your condition, before having treatment,

Flu: visit your GP for a flu jab every autumn. Pneumococcal infection: get a jab to protect against this major cause of chest infection, when you are diagnosed with liver disease and then every 10 years. Hepatitis A and B: these infections are much more serious in people who already have another liver disease, so visit your GP for the full course and the booster when due. If you are travelling abroad it is important to make sure your vaccinations are up-to-date. If you are immunosuppressed, for example due to taking steroids for autoimmune hepatitis or following a liver transplant, you should avoid ‘live’ vaccines such as MMR, TB, yellow fever and oral typhoid vaccine. In these circumstances it is important that family members do not receive live vaccines either. Your doctor can advise on how best to protect yourself. There are also a number of fairly simple precautions you can take to avoid infection.

Avoid close contact with adults and children carrying infections – from the common cold to chicken pox,

Avoid inhaling dust particles or smoking,

Brush your teeth after every meal and floss daily,

Do not clean out the cat litter or bird cages, or go near animal excrement, without gloves,

For women, use only small tampons, change frequently and do not use overnight.