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

Hepatitis - Essay ExampleTo 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. much the symptoms are quite mild and the person may attribute them to other wee-wees since the coloured 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 ofttimes 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, Wilsons 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 trouble 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 runny 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