The signs of hepatitis A are rather unpleasant. A person with this condition often experiences such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The signs of hepatitis A may also include fatigue, appetite loss, muscle pain, and itching. In many cases, a person with this condition also notices changes in the color of the whites of his eyes and his urine. An individual may also have a fever with this condition, but it is often a low-grade fever.
Many people don’t develop signs of hepatitis A until they’ve already had the virus for an entire month. Once symptoms do develop, however, they often include those common with gastrointestinal illnesses. For example, a person with hepatitis A may feel nauseated and vomit. Often, a person with hepatitis A also has pain in the part of the abdomen that houses his liver; fatigue and a low-grade fever may develop as well. In many cases, the signs of hepatitis A also include those that are common with liver issues, such yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, itching, and darkened urine.
An individual with hepatitis A may have to deal with symptoms for fewer than 60 days in many cases. Some people, however, live with them for up to six months. Interestingly, some people with hepatitis A never develop symptoms at all.
Hepatitis A is caused by an infection of the hepatitis A virus, which is only one among the common viruses that cause hepatitis. The symptoms that develop when a person has hepatitis A occur because the virus causes the affected person’s liver to become inflamed. While the inflammation of hepatitis A does cause a range of symptoms and may leave a person feeling very ill, it does not usually cause permanent damage to the liver. This differs from some other types of hepatitis.
Unfortunately, there is no medical treatment commonly used for hepatitis A. In most cases, a doctor usually recommends plenty of rest for a person with the condition. An individual may also work to keep nausea under control by eating bland, soft foods that are easy to consume and digest. Eating several small meals daily rather than three large meals a day may also prove easier on a patient’s stomach. Sometimes doctors also recommend that hepatitis A patients stop or change medications that are tough on the liver while they recover.
