The word hepatitis comes from the Ancient Greek word hepar (root word hepat) meaning ‘liver’ and the Latin itis meaning ‘inflammation’. Therefore, hepatitis means injury to the liver when there is inflammation within the cells of the liver. Get a heads-up on this disease and what you can do to treat it.
What is autoimmune hepatitis and how do people get it?
Autoimmune hepatitis is a relatively rare chronic disease of that is caused by unknown factors.. It is claimed that the body’s immune system interacts with the liver cells causing an attack and inflammation (swelling) directly on the liver and its surrounding tissues. Over a prolonged period of time, the liver injury causes dysfunction, which eventually leads to liver failure.
What are the symptoms associated with the condition?
Fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, jaundice and joint pains are some of the symptoms. In some cases, patients do not display any of these symptoms and will experience immediate liver failure. Patients who present with immediate liver failure are required to have a liver transplant shortly after diagnosis.
What are the treatment options people with the disease need to think about?
In general, most patients that present with the early stages of the disease are given treatment to suppress the immune attack (immunosuppressant’s), which include corticosteroids. Some patients will respond well to initial immunosuppressant while others would progress to fulminant liver failure (onset of liver failure) and require transplantation of the liver.
What questions should they be asking their doctor?
Patients must know and avoid any substances that may encourage further liver damage like alcohol and certain medications. It is extremely important that they enquire about this from their doctor/s as some of the avoidable substances also includes some well-known natural medicines.
