{"id":12916,"date":"2017-05-09T12:34:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T18:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/?p=12916"},"modified":"2021-03-04T16:21:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T22:21:58","slug":"an-introduction-to-hepatitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/an-introduction-to-hepatitis\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to Hepatitis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/physician\/steven-g-desautels-md-2\/\">Dr. Steven Desautels<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This blog is intended to be an introduction to hepatitis with an emphasis on some of the more common causes. Hepatitis is a disease characterized by inflammation of the liver. It can broadly be differentiated into acute (&lt;6 months) or chronic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. ACUTE HEPATITIS<br \/>\n<\/strong>Acute hepatitis may be accompanied by fatigue, abdominal pain, and jaundice. Viral infections are important causes of acute and chronic liver disease worldwide. The five primary hepatitis viruses that have been identified are A, B, C, D, and E. Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes Simplex virus also can result in hepatitis. In addition, toxins, medications, autoimmune hepatitis, and Wilson disease may cause acute or chronic hepatitis.<\/p>\n<p>Common causes of acute hepatitis include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u2022 Viruses<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Hepatitis A<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Hepatitis B<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Drug induced<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Toxins<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Alcoholic hepatitis<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Ischemic hepatitis<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Uncommon causes<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Cytomegalovirus<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Epstein-Barr virus<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Herpes simplex virus<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Hepatitis E<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Severe cardiovascular disease<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Autoimmune hepatitis<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Wilson\u2019s disease<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hepatitis A<br \/>\n<\/strong>Common routes of transmission of hepatitis A (HAV) include ingestion of contaminated food or water and contact with an infected person. Hepatitis A is almost always self-limited. Treatment is supportive. Post exposure prophylaxis with hepatitis A vaccine or immune serum globulin (or both) is advised. Hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for all children at 12 months of age and should be considered in travelers to areas with high prevalence of hepatitis A, to men who have sex with men, to intravenous drug users, and to patients with chronic liver disease.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on Hepatitis A from Uptodate.com refer to:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uptodate.com\/contents\/hepatitis-a-beyond-the-basics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.uptodate.com\/contents\/hepatitis-a-beyond-the-basics<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hepatitis B<br \/>\n<\/strong>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) leads to approximately 30% of the cases of acute viral hepatitis and 15% of the cases of chronic viral hepatitis in the United States. Risk factors for contracted HBV in the United States are sexual contact with an infected person and intravenous drug use. Patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis are at high risk for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, Hepatitis B immunoglobulin should be given to nonimmune household and sexual contacts of patients who have acute hepatitis B. All infants should receive hepatitis B vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on HBV refer to:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uptodate.com\/contents\/hepatitis-b-beyond-the-basics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.uptodate.com\/contents\/hepatitis-b-beyond-the-basics<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Toxins<br \/>\n<\/strong>The use of certain complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) may potentially lead to acute hepatitis and sometimes fulminant hepatic failure. LiverTox- <a href=\"https:\/\/livertox.nih.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/livertox.nih.gov\/<\/a> is an online resource developed as a collaborative effort between the liver disease branch of the NIDDK and the National Library of Medicine.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>2. CHRONIC HEPATITIS<br \/>\n<\/strong>Diseases that produce sustained (&gt;6 months) increases in aminotransferase levels (liver enzymes) are included in the category of chronic hepatitis.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The most important disorders that cause chronic hepatitis include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u2022 Viruses<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8212;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/condition\/hepatitis-c\/\">Hepatitis\u00a0C<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;Hepatitis B<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Alcoholic liver disease<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Autoimmune hepatitis<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Primary biliary cirrhosis<\/li>\n<li>\u2022 Primary sclerosing cholangitis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hepatitis C<br \/>\n<\/strong>HCV is the cause of the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States, where an estimated 3 to 4 million persons are infected. HCV is a factor in 40% of all cases of chronic liver disease and is a leading indication for liver transplant. Newer medications are having a major impact in the treatment success and eradication of HCV in individuals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease<br \/>\n<\/strong>The obesity epidemic has increased the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It currently is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Western nations. NAFLD can be associated with cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and other manifestations of the metabolic syndrome.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uptodate.com\/contents\/epidemiology-clinical-features-and-diagnosis-of-nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-in-adults?source=search_result&amp;search=nafld&amp;selectedTitle=1%7E98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here<\/a> for more information on NAFLD from Uptodate.com.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alcohol-induced liver disease<br \/>\n<\/strong>Alcoholic liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Globally, approximately 2 billion people consume alcohol, and alcohol use disorders are diagnosed in more than 75 million people.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions about hepatitis, please contact your physician at Granite Peaks Gastroenterology. Call\u00a0<strong>801-619-9000<\/strong>\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/request-appointment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">click here<\/a> to request an appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by<a href=\"http:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/condition\/heartburn-acid-reflux\/symptoms\/\"> <\/a>Dr. Steven Desautels This blog is intended to be an introduction to hepatitis with an emphasis on some of the more common causes. Hepatitis is a disease characterized by inflammation of the liver. It can broadly be differentiated into acute (&lt;6 months) or chronic. 1. ACUTE HEPATITIS Acute hepatitis may be accompanied by fatigue, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[407,199],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitepeaksgi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}