What is Hepatitis?!
Question: What does it to do you? And what happens? And how do you know you have it and do you die?
Answers: What does it to do you? And what happens? And how do you know you have it and do you die?
Understanding Hepatitis - the Basics
What Is Hepatitis?
Hepatitis is a general term that means inflammation of the liver. It can be acute or chronic and has a number of different causes. It can be caused by a group of viruses known as the hepatitis viruses, including A, B, C, D and E. Other viruses may also be the culprit, such as those that cause mononucleosis (the Epstein-Barr virus) or chickenpox (the varicella virus).
Hepatitis also applies to inflammation of the liver caused by drugs and alcohol abuse or toxins in the environment. People also can develop hepatitis from other factors, such as trauma or an autoimmune process in which a person's body makes antibodies that attack the liver.
Hepatitis is the most common of all serious contagious diseases. Thousands of cases are reported to the CDC each year, but researchers estimate that the true number of people in the United States who have the disease (acute and chronic) is much higher than the number reported.
Many hepatitis cases go undiagnosed because they are mistaken for the flu. Hepatitis is serious because it interferes with the liver's many functions. Among other things, the liver produces bile to aid digestion, regulates the chemical composition of the blood, and screens potentially harmful substances from the bloodstream.
The five hepatitis viruses can be transmitted in different ways, but they all have one thing in common: They infect the liver and cause it to become inflamed. Generally, the acute phase of the disease lasts from two to three weeks; complete recovery takes about nine weeks. Although most patients recover with a lifelong immunity to the disease, a few hepatitis victims (less than 1%) die in the acute phase. Others may develop chronic hepatitis, in which the liver remains inflamed for six months or more. This condition can lead to cirrhosis and possibly death.
What Causes It?
Although their effects on the liver and the symptoms they produce can be similar, the various forms of hepatitis are contracted in different ways. In the case of viral hepatitis, the severity and duration of the disease are largely determined by the organism that caused it.
Hepatitis A, which is generally contracted orally through fecal contamination of food or water, is considered the least dangerous form of the disease because it almost always resolves on its own. Also, it does not lead to chronic inflammation of the liver. The hepatitis A virus commonly spreads through improper handling of food, contact with household members, sharing toys at day-care centers, and eating raw shellfish taken from polluted waters.
Hepatitis B can spread through sexual contact, blood transfusions, and needle sharing by intravenous drug users. The virus can pass from mother to child at birth or soon afterward; the virus can also travel between adults and children to infect whole families. In a third of all hepatitis B cases the source cannot be identified.
Understanding Hepatitis - the Basics
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What Causes It? continued...
The majority of hepatitis B patients recover completely, but a small percentage of them can't shake the disease and become carriers. Carriers can transmit the disease to others even when their own symptoms have vanished. A smaller percentage of patients who cannot fight off the virus will develop chronic hepatitis B. Like carriers, those with chronic hepatitis B are able to pass on the virus. Up to 25% of chronic hepatitis B patients die prematurely from the disease as a result of cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is usually spread through contact with blood or contaminated needles -- including tattoo needles. Although hepatitis C may cause only mild symptoms or none at all, approximately 20% of those infected develop cirrhosis within 20 years. The disease can be passed on through blood transfusions, but screening, which started in the early '90s, has greatly reduced the number of such cases. In a third of all hepatitis C cases, the source of the disease is unknown.
Hepatitis D occurs only in people infected with hepatitis B and tends to magnify the severity of that disease. It can be transmitted from mother to child and through sexual contact. Although less common, hepatitis D is especially dangerous because it involves two forms of the disease working at once.
Hepatitis E occurs mainly in Asia, Mexico, India, and Africa; only a few cases are reported in the United States, mostly among people who have returned from a country where the disease is widespread. Like hepatitis A, this type is usually spread through fecal contamination, and it does not lead to chronic hepatitis. This form is considered slightly more dangerous than hepatitis A, especially in pregnant women, who may die from this infection.
Other viruses may also be responsible for causing hepatitis. These include the Epstein-Barr virus (often associated with mononucleosis), the varicella virus (which causes chickenpox), the herpes simplex virus (HSV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV).
Alcoholic, toxic, and drug-related hepatitis can produce the same symptoms and liver inflammation that result from viral hepatitis. This form is caused not by invading microorganisms but by excessive and chronic consumption of alcohol, ingestion of environmental toxins, or misuse of certain prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen.
Hepatitis means inflammation (itis) of the liver (hepar), an irritation or swelling of the liver cells. There are many causes of hepatitis which include viral infections A, B and C that most of us have heard of, but also the disease also includes auto-immune hepatitis, fatty liver hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis and toxin induced hepatitis. Globally, it is estimated that around 250 million people are affected by hepatitis C. Moreover, an estimated 400 million people are chronic carriers of hepatitis B.
It is a disease of the liver, there are a few different types of it ... A, B, & C. I think you can be tested for it. Good Luck to you.
It is the inflimation of the liver. Basicly means your liver has sores all over and is painful
Hepatitis literally translates to inflammation of the liver. Acute hepatitis can lead to liver transplantation or else it will kill you. There are many types of hepatitis, the most common being Hep A, Hep B, and Hep C. The easiest symptom of hepatitis to spot is jaundice, when the skin and eyes turn yellow.
its an inflammation of liver, it has many types A,B,C &D.
THIS INFLAMMATION: caused by transmission of viruses to the body, like HAV,HBV & other.
the most dangerous one is which is transmitted by blood like hepatitis B&C, (most dangerous types).type A transmitted by food, less sever and can acure from it.
you know you have it by blood tests only like:HBV& HBV-anti bodies.
all we don't know about die, some persons responce to treatments & other no.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. There are several different types with different causes. There is autoimmune hepatitis, fatty liver where fatty deposits cause the liver to function ineffectively, alcoholic hepatitis, hepatitis caused by medication or chemicals, but the most prominent type of hepatitis is viral hepatitis.
There are several types of viral hepatitis: Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, and F. They are similar in that they attack the liver causing scarring (called fibrosis). They are different in the way they are transmitted.
Hep A (HAV) is transmitted through what's called the fecal/oral route (meaning someone who has the virus didn't wash their hands after a bowel movement, then prepared food which was eaten by the "victim". Gross, but that is why you often hear of HAV outbreaks through restaurants. There is a vaccine for HAV, and most people do get sick, but they recover from it. Only if they have another form of hep then they could die from it.
Hep B (HBV) is transmitted through sexual contact (bodily fluids) and blood to blood contact. There is a vaccine for HBV. Most people who become exposed to HBV clear it through their own body's immune system. Only about 15-20% will go on to have chronic HBV. HBV can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, or the need for a transplant.
Hepatitis C (HCV) is more prevalent than any other form of hepatitis, with more than 4 million people in the US infected. That 4 times more people with HCV than HIV, yet so few people know about how you get it, or how to treat it. There is no vaccine for HCV. It is transmitted by blood to blood contact only. Risk factors are transfusions & organ transplants before they tested the blood supply (1992), IV drug use even if only one time many years ago, tattoos & piercings, kidney dialysis, mother to child transmission, snorting drugs & sharing the straw or dollar bill, sharing toothbrushes or razors with others (they may not know they have HCV), and sex only when blood to blood contact occurs.
Hepatitis D is a "piggyback" disease; you must have HBV in order to get HDV. So if you're vaccinated against HBV, you are protected from Hep D.
Hep E is is also fecal/oral route and can be transmitted by unclean water. This is usually found in underdeveloped countries. HEV is also one where you can recover from.
I don't know much about Hep F, but it is rarely seen.
How do you know you have any of these? Well, most of the time there are no symptoms (for HBV, HCV especially). That's why it's such a dangerous disease, people can have it for years, or even decades and not know it. All the while the virus is causing fibrosis to the liver. When the liver becomes too scarred, it cannot function well, and the person develops cirrhosis. Cirrhosis leads to a host of other problems and often to liver failure and the need for a transplant.
Many people live with hepatitis and manage the disease. Some do treatment, some make healthy lifestyle changes, and some do not. Sometimes no matter what a person does, the disease progresses. The best thing you could ever do for yourself is to NOT drink alcohol. Alcohol speeds up the damage to the liver and causes the virus to replicate faster. Educate yourself so you can make good decisions regarding your health. Best wishes to you.