For anyone who has suffered from this condition you will know that it is about as ill as you can feel without being seriously ill!

Hepatitis is the Greek term that literally means liver inflammation. It is characterised by the destruction of a number of liver cells and the presence of inflammatory cells in the liver tissue.

Hepatitis can be caused by viruses that primarily attack the liver cells, such as hepatitis A and B. Patients with glandular fever, caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, can also suffer from an attack of hepatitis.
Generally hepatitis can be divided into two subgroups according to its duration and those are acute hepatitis which lasts less than six months and then chronic hepatitis – lasting longer than six months.

Good post Saffy actually, acute hepatitis has a number of possible causes some of which came as a surprise to me!

·Infectious viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E.
·Other viral diseases, such as glandular fever and cytomegalovirus.
·Severe bacterial infections.
·Amoebic infections.
·Medicines, eg paracetamol poisoning and halothane (an anaesthetic).
·Toxins: alcohol and fungal toxins, eg toadstool poisoning.


Chronic hepatitis also has a number of different causes and in this case I never knew about the drug reactions!

·Infectious hepatitis, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and hepatitis D.
·Drug reactions.
·Toxins, such as alcohol.
·Autoimmune hepatitis. This is a disease in which a number of liver cells are destroyed by the patient's own immune system. Autoimmune hepatitis can also sometimes occur as acute hepatitis. The cause is unknown.
Inborn metabolic disorders, such as Wilson's disease (disorder of the body's copper metabolism) and haemochromatosis (disorder of the body's iron metabolism).

It's a minefield out there!

It is worth knowing that a person can develop hepatitis if they contract one of the viruses that can cause liver inflammation, or as a result of exposure to substances that can cause hepatitis – alcohol, fungal toxins and certain medicines.

There are two ways in which medicines can lead to hepatitis: it can either occur as a result of medicine poisoning through overdoses of a medicine (eg paracetamol), or it can occur as a result of an abnormal reaction of the liver to a normal dose (eg halothane, the anaesthetic). Fortunately, the latter type of hepatitis is rare.

In fact the symptoms of acute hepatitis vary considerably from person to person. Some patients have no symptoms at all, and in most cases, children only show mild symptoms so it can be quite a tricky one to diagnosis initially as a patient will not attend the doctor with non specific mild symptoms.

When symptoms do occur then in the early stages of Acute Hepatitis they will be:

tiredness, general malaise, slight fever
nausea, poor appetite, changes in taste perception
pressure or pain below the right ribs caused by an enlarged liver
aching muscles and joints, headache, skin rash.

Then in the jaundiced phase:
yellowing of the whites of the eyes, skin and mucous membranes
dark urine
light-coloured stools
around this time, the other symptoms subside.

When the recovery phase begins then tiredness that can last for weeks.


With Chronic hepatitis:

Many patients have no symptoms.
Tiredness, an increased need for sleep, aching muscles and joints.
Periodic light pressure or pain below the right ribs – enlarged liver.
Jaundice is a very late symptom of chronic hepatitis. It is a sign that the disease has become serious.

If you have any of these symptoms and suspect you might have heaptitis, go and see the doctor immediately.

Those at risk of hepatitis are usually patients with jaundice or other symptoms of hepatitis as well as people in high risk groups and people who are at increased risk due to a hereditary type of hepatitis in their families.

You can avoid hepatitis by avoiding exposure to the infectious hepatitis viruses or by being vaccinated against hepatitis A and hepatitis B, if you have a high risk of being infected. By refraining from drinking large amounts of alcohol.

At home in every day life, avoid drinking alcohol if you have symptoms of hepatitis or if a blood sample has shown that the disease is active. If alcoholism is the cause, you must stop drinking completely and see your doctor. Eat a well-balanced diet. If you have symptoms of acute hepatitis, you may need to slow down. However, if you feel fine, there is no reason why you should not go to work and keep up your other activities. If you have hepatitis A and your job involves food handling, your doctor will advise you on when it is safe to return to work If you have chronic hepatitis, try to lead a normal life as far as possible.

People with hepatitis B must inform their family and their sexual partners about it. Sexual and other close contacts will need to protect themselves by being vaccinated. Condoms should be used until the vaccine has begun to work.
If you have hepatitis A, you must inform your family, so that they can protect themselves against it by practising good hygiene and seek advice on vaccination and other preventive measures.

If you have chronic hepatitis, you should have regular clinic review by your doctor.