Inflammation is a course of protective action through which body’s immune cells attack the foreign particles which gain access to body e.g. bacteria and viruses. It is associated with reddishness, soreness, bump and fever. Hepatitis is a greek word ‘hepat’ meaning liver and suffix ‘itis’ meaning inflammation .So the inflammation of liver is called Hepatitis . It may be Acute or Chronic. Causes of hepatitis include viruses, autoimmune disorder, alcohol, toxins, medications liver injury, fatty liver and cancer.

Acute hepatitis

Acute viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver due to infection for one of the five hepatitis viruses. In most individuals, the inflammation starts suddenly and can last only a few weeks. Symptoms result from nothing to very severe symptoms. Hepatitis A and E are the most common causes of acute viral hepatitis other causes include immunological, metabolic, drugs (paracetomol) and toxins (herbal and dietary supplements), pregnancy related (pre-eclampsia). Patient may have fatigue, loss of appetite, dark urine, pale stool, yellow skin and eyes which may be signs of jaundice, nausea, vomiting, and right side upper abdominal pain. Infection may spread from one person to another through blood or other body fluids.

Chronic hepatitis                           

Chronic hepatitis occurs for more than six months. It may be caused by Hepatitis C, B or some medicines other causes include autoimmune, metabolic and alcohol. The disease can be mild, causing relatively little or no severe damage, leading to the death of many liver cells. Some may lead to cirrhosis and failure of the liver. Symptoms appear very late in the course of the disease and commonly include low-grade fever, jaundice, dark urine, joint and muscle aches, bleeding from different body sites and particularly with hepatitis C signs of cirrhosis can be seen e.g., splenomegaly ( enlarged spleen) , spider nevi ( swollen blood vessels underneath the skin surface ), palmar erythema ( making palm appearing red ).

Acute Hepatitis VS Chronic Hepatitis

Onset                     

Acute hepatitis has short time period of onset manly weeks.

Chronic hepatitis may persist for more than six months.

Duration

Acute hepatitis lasts for few weeks and less than six months.

Chronic hepatitis lasts over couple of years.

Symptomatology

Acute hepatitis shows rapid onset of symptoms like fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, pale stool, weight loss, loss of appetite, right sided abdominal pain, yellow eyes and skin indicates jaundice.

Chronic hepatitis is mainly asymptomatic. Patient shows signs and symptoms after disease has advanced to an incurable stage.

Diagnosis

Acute hepatitis is diagnosed with the help of history ( involves drug or medication history , previous illness , travel history and blood transfusion history ), physical examination ( Doctor might observe yellow sclera and skin with it patient might be experiencing symptoms and report dark urine and pale stool ) and through laboratory investigations which show marked elevation in serum amino transferase and billirubin level.

Evaluation for chronic hepatitis generally starts with blood tests to examine the level of liver enzymes and other stimulants produced by the liver (liver tests). These test results may help to identify and exclude the diagnosis of hepatitis, the trigger and the intensity of liver damage. Specialized imaging test Ultrasonography and liver biopsy could be done if no any cause is found.

Progression

Acute hepatitis rarely progresses to cirrhosis and liver failure.

Chronic hepatitis, being asymptomatic, rapidly progresses to fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver failure.

Association with cancer

Acute hepatitis cancer never develops into cancer of liver.

Chronic hepatitis has got great tendency to progress into liver cancer.

Treatment

Acute hepatitis is mainly concerned with supportive treatment i.e. electrolyte and fluid management, control of blood sugar level, anti-emetics and severe cases anti-viral drugs.

Chronic hepatitis treatment consists of both supportive and specific treatment. General management is as mentioned for acute form and specific includes interferon, antiviral drugs, immunosuppressant drugs and corticosteroids depending upon the cause.

Prognosis

Acute hepatitis resolves within few weeks but only if kept under observation.

Chronic hepatitis can only be treated if diagnosed early in the course of illness.

Conclusion

Hepatitis is lethal disease of liver which has got multi-factorial origin but main cause is virus, especially in developing countries where mortality rate is very high due to this disease. So regular medical checkup, balanced diet, healthy environment should be encouraged among people through social media. Do you take a balanced diet?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551570/

https://www.healthline.com/health/hepatitis

https://www.msdmanuals.com