What is Hepatitis?
The term heaptitis means inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis can be caused by:
- Viruses
- Harmful intake of chemicals or drugs (whether legal, illicit or prescription)
- Excessive alcohol
- Auto-immune response
Viral hepatitis is the term used when inflammation of the liver is caused by a virus. Different letters of the alphabet are used to differentiate between types of viral hepatitis. Currently there are believed to be five types of viral hepatitis - A,B,C,D and E (hepatitis D and E are not common in Australia).
While hepatitis doesnt always create noticable symptoms, here are some of the signs/symptoms common to every type of hepatitis
- aches & pains
- fever
- nausea
- loss of appetite
- abdominal discomfort
- dark urine
- jaundice (yellowing of the skin &/or eyes)