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Article: Initial symptoms of all hepatitis similar
- Article from:
- Sun-Journal Lewiston, Me.
- Article date:
- March 18, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Sun-Journal Lewiston, Me. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you please write about hepatitis A, B and
C? When I was young, I had yellow jaundice and was very sick. I
don't understand hepatitis A, B and C. It is related to yellow
jaundice, I think. - R.M.
ANSWER: A discussion of hepatitis A, B and C requires 20 pages.
The best I can do is a brief summary.
Hepatitis is liver-cell inflammation with death of some of the
cells. It can come from poisons like carbon tetrachloride, from
alcohol, from fat invasion of the liver, from some bacteria and from
viruses, among which are the hepatitis A, B and C viruses. In the
acute stages of hepatitis, all these causes produce a similar
illness - yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), ...