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Hepatitis Types, Causes
& Symptoms
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The Benefits Of Combined Hepatitis C Treatments
By Groshan Fabiola
Hepatitis C is a form of liver disease which occurs due to infection with HCV. Hepatitis C virus is also responsible for causing other liver disorders, such as cirrhosis. It is very important to
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Available Treatments For Hepatitis C
There are more than eighty percent of all hepatitis C patients that go on to develop chronic hepatitis C. In such cases, there is but one sure way to see the extent of your liver damage because of
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Available Treatments For Hepatitis C
There are more than eighty percent of all hepatitis C patients that go on to develop chronic hepatitis C. In such cases, there is but one sure way to see the extent of your liver damage because of
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Common Forms Of Treatment For Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This type of virus has been recently identified to cause a wide range of liver diseases such as cirrhosis
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About
Hepatitus
Hepatitis (plural hepatitides) is a condition that affects
the liver. The name itself is from the Greek and literally means
“inflammation of the liver”. If Hepatitis lasts for more than six
months it is deemed to be chronic hepatitis and if less than this is
know as acute hepatitis.
Hepatitis can be caused by a number of things, there are a group of
viruses (know as the hepatitis
viruses) that cause most instances of the condition world
wide or it can be brought on by toxins such as alcohol. Hepatitis can
also be induced as an effect of other viruses affecting the autoimmune
system, conditions like HIV for instance can lead to hepatitis.
Hepatitis can run unnoticed
by the person suffering from the condition,
indeed they may not even feel ill. Healing of hepatitis can often
happen on its own though the scaring to the liver usually persists even
after the active agent is gone.
Signs
and Symptoms of Hepatitis
Symptoms of hepatitis include the patient feeling generally unwell,
symptomatic when the disease impairs liver functions that include,
among other things, removal of harmful substances, regulation of blood
composition, and production of bile to help digestion.
Acute
Hepatitis
Clinically, the course of acute hepatitis varies widely from mild
symptoms requiring no treatment to fulminant hepatic failure needing
liver transplantation. Acute viral hepatitis is more likely to be found
in younger people. Hepatitis after a convalescent stage of 7 to 10 days
initially will suffer the main effects if the illness lasting 2 to 6
weeks.
Often experienced are flu-like symptoms, common to almost all viral
infections and may include malaise, muscle and joint aches, fever,
nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, and headache.
More specific symptoms, which can be present in acute hepatitis from
any cause, are: profound loss of appetite, aversion to smoking among
smokers, dark urine, yellowing of the eyes and skin (i.e., jaundice)
and abdominal discomfort.
Chronic
Hepatitis
Majority of patients will remain asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic,
abnormal blood tests being the only manifestation. Features may be
related to the extent of liver damage or the cause of hepatitis.
Many experience return of symptoms related to acute hepatitis. Jaundice
can be a late feature and may indicate extensive damage. Other features
include abdominal fullness from enlarged liver or spleen, low grade
fever and fluid retention. Extensive damage and scarring of liver
(called cirrhosis of the liver) leads to weight loss, easy bruising and
a tendency to bleed easily.
Acne, abnormal menstruation, lung scarring, inflammation of the thyroid
gland and kidneys may be present in women suffering autoimmune
hepatitis.
Summary
of Acute Hepatitis Causes
- Viral
Hepatitis: Hepatitis A through E (more than 95% of viral cause), Herpes
simplex, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr, yellow fever virus,
adenoviruses.
- Non
viral infection: toxoplasma, Leptospira, Q fever, rocky mountain
spotted fever
- Alcohol
- Toxins:
Amanita toxin in mushrooms, carbon tetrachloride, asafetida
- Drugs:
Paracetamol, amoxycillin, antituberculosis medicines, minocycline and
many others (see longer list below).
- Ischemic
hepatitis (circulatory insufficiency)
- Pregnancy
- Auto
immune conditions, e.g. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
- Metabolic
diseases, e.g. Wilson's disease
Summary
of Chronic Hepatitis Causes
- Viral
hepatitis: Hepatitis B with or without hepatitis D, hepatitis C
(Hepatitis A and E do not lead to chronic disease)
- Autoimmune:
Autoimmune hepatitis
- Alcohol
- Drugs:
methyldopa, nitrofurantoin, isoniazid, ketoconazole
- Non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis
- Heredity:
Wilson's disease, alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency
- Primary
biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis occasionally mimic
chronic hepatitis
Types
of Hepatitis
Viral
Hepatitis
Most cases of acute hepatitis are due to viral infections, these
include:
- Hepatitis
A
- Hepatitis
B
- Hepatitis
C
- Hepatitis
B with D
- Hepatitis
E
- Hepatitis
F virus (existence unknown)
- Hepatitis
G, or GBV-C
- In
addition to the hepatitis viruses (please note that the hepatitis
viruses are not all related), other viruses can also cause hepatitis,
including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, yellow fever, etc.
Other
viral causes of Hepatitis
- Mumps
virus
- Rubella
virus
- Cytomegalovirus
- Epstein-Barr
virus
- Other
herpes viruses
We strive to provide only quality articles, so if
there is a specific topic related to hepatitis that you would
like us to cover, please contact us at any time.
And
again, thank you to those contributing daily to
our hepatitis
website.
TheTeam@awareness-guide.com
Thanks
For Stopping by...
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