Chronic Hepatitis

Chronic hepatitis is inflammation (swelling) of the liver that lasts for 6 months or longer. Chronic hepatitis usually develops from acute hepatitis but you may not know you had acute hepatitis.

• Usually, chronic hepatitis is caused by the hepatitis B or C virus or certain drugs

• Most people have no symptoms, but some people may feel a little sick, tired, or not hungry

• Sometimes, chronic hepatitis can cause serious problems over time, such as cirrhosis

• Chronic hepatitis can last for years

• Doctors can treat chronic hepatitis with medicine

Chronic hepatitis is usually caused by one of the hepatitis viruses, especially hepatitis B and C.

Chronic hepatitis can also be caused by:

• Some kinds of medicine, especially if you take them for a long time

• Certain diseases, such as alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, and others

• Autoimmune reactions (when the body attacks the liver)

Doctors don’t know exactly what causes chronic hepatitis in some people.

About 2 out of 3 people with chronic hepatitis develop it gradually and have no symptoms until they develop cirrhosis (scarring of the liver).

You could have symptoms such as:

• Feeling a little sick, tired, and less hungry

• Sometimes, a mild fever and pain in your upper belly area

• Swelling from fluid building up in your belly area (ascites)

• Small, spiderlike blood vessels on your skin (spider angioma)

• Red palms

• Trouble thinking clearly

• Bleeding easily

• Jaundice

• Itchiness

• Bad-smelling, greasy looking, light-colored stool (poop)

• Autoimmune symptoms like joint pain and, for women, no periods

If you have chronic hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis C with cirrhosis, you may develop liver cancer.

Doctors will:

• Do blood tests

• Take a small sample of your liver to look at under a microscope (biopsy)

Your doctor will treat your chronic hepatitis differently depending on the cause:

• If a certain medicine is the cause, your doctor will have you stop taking the medicine

• If hepatitis B, C, or E is the cause, your doctor will give you medicine to treat the virus

• If you’re having an autoimmune reaction, your doctor will give you corticosteroids to decrease the inflammation in the liver

• If you have severe liver failure, you may need a liver transplant

Doctors will also treat any complications your chronic hepatitis has caused.