Recently a good friend of mine loss his life to Hepatitis C due to liver failure and rejection of a liver transplant. I was devastated, thus my investigation about Hepatitis ensued. First of all I did not know there were a Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E and even a G. My research also exposed that people that had blood transfusion before 1992 may be at risk because blood was not screened for the HCV antibodies. HCV stands for Hepatitis C Virus.
Hepatitis A can be spread easily through fecal contamination via food or water. It can be incubated within 15 to 45 days. In most cases the liver can heal itself within 3 months. Whenever I heard about someone having Hepatitis A I thought they were unclean and just needed to clean up. If I noticed someone with yellow eyes I knew that was a sign of Hepatitis and I made sure I did not eat after them or let them drink out of my soda bottle.
Growing up I heard about people getting Hepatitis B from contact with infected blood from mother to child during childbirth, bad blood transfusions or sharing needles. This disease can also be spread through sexual contact. Most people recover from Hepatitis B while some go on to develop cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. The incubation time is between 30 to 180 days. There is a vaccine for this form of Hepatitis.
Hepatitis C is the most serious type of Hepatitis that cause over 10,000 deaths in America every year. There are over 4 million cases of Hepatitis C in American this is the primary cause of liver transplants. This type of Hepatitis is easier to catch than AIDS.
Hepatitis D occurs with Hepatitis B which makes it very serious because there are two forms of Hepatitis in the body at the same time.
Hepatitis E can be found in areas outside of the United States. It is spread through contaminated water and most dangerous to pregnant women.
Hepatitis G is transferred through the blood. There is very little known about this disease.
The early signs of Hepatitis are fever, vomiting, nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite, joint pains, hive-like eruptions, darken urine and jaundice. Jaundice is the yellowing of the eyes and skins.
Hepatitis attacks the liver. The liver is responsible for filtering the blood from dead cells, fats, hormones, and all other toxins in the blood. Its' function is vital for the body and without it's properly function dead can occur. Cirrhosis of the liver causes scarring of the liver and hardening which cause the liver to malfunction. Complications from cirrhosis are constipation or diarrhea, upset stomach, poor appetite, red palms and swelling of the abdomen and legs.
Advance stages of cirrhosis include high blood pressure, ascites and edema ( fluid buildup in stomach and legs/feet), kidney failure and diseases of the brain; such as encephalopathy. Cirrhosis is permanent but can be slowed when one stop drinking.
There are several herbs and supplements that can help with Hepatitis:
- Milk Thistle
- Artichoke
- Dandelion
- Inositol Hexaphosphate
- Lecithin
- Coenzyme Q10
- Raw Liver
- Vitamin C
- Licorice Root
- Green Drinks
- Zinc
- Astragalus
Just to name a few.
I often wonder why my friend rejected his new liver and why the doctors say that the virus was dormant within his body for several years. I forgot about the fact that Hepatitis is a sexual transmitted disease along with AIDS, Chlamydia, Genital Herpes, Genital Warts, Gonorrhea, Pelvic inflammatory disease, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis and many other sexually transmitted diseases.
