Types of hep start out the same  Published Wednesday, March 18,
2009  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), great fatigue, loss of appetite, fever
and profound mental fogginess. Sometimes the initial attack is
so mild that the symptoms aren't appreciated. What happens after
the initial illness is quite different for the different causes.
Hepatitis A most oft