Alcoholic Hepatitis Symptoms

Symptoms: Alcoholic Hepatitis

The symptoms caused by alcoholic hepatitis are more numerous then those caused by the other types of hepatitis. Persons suffering from alcoholic hepatitis is probably to present enlarged liver, fever, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), poor appetite, increased white blood cell count, ascites (fluid build-up in the abdominal cavity), spider-like veins in the skin, kidney failure, confusion. In some cases, more aggressive symptoms such as: vomiting blood or material that looks like coffee grounds, light-headedness or fainting, tachycardia (especially when rising to standing position) - can be found.

The excessive usage of alcohol can cause malnutrition which also contributes to liver diseases (some think that the combination between alcohol and malnutrition is actually causing the alcoholic hepatitis). The mechanism trough which alcohol determines malnutrition is very simple: the empty calories a persons ingests from alcohol are causing a loss of appetite. Alcohol also causes malabsorption (defective or inadequate absorption of nutrients from the intestinal tract).

The mortality at people suffering from that disorder on short term is insignificant. That changes at people which are suffering from this disease for a long period of time. At patience with severe liver affection, the mortality exceeds 50%. If the alcohol abuse is interrupted, the patients can recover very well, the liver functions presenting visible improvements in months to years since the disruption in alcohol usage.

Alcoholic Hepatitis Alcoholic Hepatitis Symptoms Alcoholic Hepatitis Transmission