Hepatitis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hepatitis - Essay Example To better understand the viral infection, it would be necessary to examine both acute infections and chronic infections of the virus. Chronic Hepatitis is the less common of the two but it can stay with a person for years. Often the symptoms are quite mild and the person may attribute them to other causes since the liver is not suddenly and significantly damaged (Ryder and Beckingham, 2001). In certainly cases, the liver damage progresses to a stage where cirrhosis may occur followed by liver failure or liver cancer. The cause for Chronic Hepatitis is most often the presence of the Hepatitis C virus since more than 75% of acute Hepatitis C patients develop Chronic Hepatitis. Hepatitis B and D variants of the virus can also cause Chronic Hepatitis but Hepatitis A and E variants do not (Merck, 2003). The causes for Chronic Hepatitis are many and complex even so that some medicines such as Methyldopa, Nitrofurantoin and even Tylenol can lead to chronic hepatitis. The risks are quite strong when these medicines are taken for a prolonged period of time. Similarly, Wilson’s disease which is a hereditary disease can also cause chronic hepatitis in children (Merck, 2003). The problem of detection for Chronic Hepatitis is compounded by the difficulty in marking the symptoms of the disease. For example, the symptoms include a feeling of sickness, poor appetite and a loss of energy (Ryder and Beckingham, 2001). Additionally, a person suffering from Chronic Hepatitis may have a low grade fever and abdominal pains. S/he may also develop signs of jaundice, have an enlarged spleen, retain fluid or blood vessels in the skin that look like spiders. When a doctor suspects a case of Chronic Hepatitis, a liver biopsy may be recommended as a diagnostic test for the liver. The biopsy can reveal the underlying causes of the disease and may be needed more than