DESCRIPTION:
Hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver often caused by a virus. There are several different kinds of hepatitis caused by different hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis A, B and C are the most common forms of the hepatitis virus. Unique and newly discovered forms of the virus such as Hepatitis D (Delta hepatitis), Hepatitis E, Hepatitis F and Hepatitis G can also result in acute and chronic liver disease.
How does Hepatitis develop?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 150,000 people each year are infected with Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A is caused by the Hepatitis A virus or HAV. HAV is spread by eating food or drinking water that has been contaminated by infected human feces. Most Hepatitis A infections last for less than 6 months and normally resolve without medical intervention. Persons at risk for developing HAV are sex partners of infected people, people traveling to countries where HAV is common, men who have sex with other men and injecting and non-injecting drug users.
Hepatitis B or HBV afflicts approximately 1.2 million people in the United States. Hepatitis B is found in blood and certain body fluids and is spread when a person who is not immune to Hepatitis B is infected with blood or body fluids contaminated with the virus. HBV can cause a serious form of hepatitis and may develop into a chronic disease in up to 10% of infected people. In the United States, the major risk factors for contracting HBV are unprotected sex with multiple partners and intravenous drug use. People also at risk for HBV are healthcare workers and public safety workers that are exposed to blood. Hemodialysis patients, people diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease and infants born to infected mothers are also at risk.
Hepatitis C or HCV affects some 4 million Americans. HCV occurs when blood or body fluids from an infected person enter the body of someone who is not infected. HCV is spread through sharing needles, needle stick exposure on the job and from infected mothers to the baby during childbirth. Between 55 and 85% of HCV infected individuals will experience long term infection; 70% will develop chronic liver disease; and 1 to 5% may die from the virus. HCV is the leading cause of liver transplant. Persons at risk for HCV infection are healthcare workers intravenous drug users and people who received blood or blood products before 1992.
Hepatitis D or Delta hepatitis is caused by the Hepatitis D virus and only occurs in conjunction with Hepatitis B infection. The combination of Hepatitis B and D can be more serious than Hepatitis B alone and is more likely to cause chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Hepatitis D is spread via unprotected sex with multiple partners and intravenous drug users. Hepatitis D infection can occur at the same time a person is infected with Hepatitis B or after acute Hepatitis B infection.
Hepatitis E is similar to Hepatitis A, as it is an acute infection rather than a chronic one. Hepatitis E infection is unusual in the United States but can be contracted by direct contact with an infected person’s feces or indirect fecal contamination of food, water, raw shellfish and utensils. Persons at risk for contracting Hepatitis E are international travelers, those having sexual intercourse with an infected person and people living in areas where Hepatitis E outbreaks are common, such as Asia and South America. Like Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E usually resolves on its own in several weeks to several months without treatment.
Hepatitis F is a very rare form of liver inflammation caused by infection with the so-called Hepatitis F virus. The Hepatitis F virus may be a mutation of the Hepatitis B virus. Most medical literature however does not recognize this form of hepatitis as a true virus.
Finally, Hepatitis G virus is a newly identified RNA virus similar to the Hepatitis C virus. So far the Hepatitis G virus does not appear to be infectious or to cause any illness. The Hepatitis G virus seems to coexist with other types of hepatitis infections. One in five people infected with Hepatitis C also carry Hepatitis G.
What are symptoms of Hepatitis?
Most often people infected with hepatitis will have no symptoms at all, even when the disease has been present for years. When symptoms are present, they include fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, jaundice of the skin and eyes, dark colored urine and vomiting, and general flu-like symptoms.
Conventional medical treatments may help relieve the symptoms of hepatitis, but they do not address the root of the problem. By addressing imbalances in the body and impaired immune function, as natural medicine treatments do, hepatitis may be cured.
Discover why we believe that natural medicine treatments are the best way to treat hepatitis.
