Hepatitis A is a serious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is found in the stool of persons with hepatitis A. It is usually spread by close personal contact and sometimes by eating food or drinking water containing HAV.

Hepatitis A can cause:

• mild “flu-like” illness
  
• jaundice (yellow skin or eyes)
  
• severe stomach pains and diarrhea
  

People with hepatitis A often have to be hospitalized (up to about 1 person in 5).

Sometimes, people die as a result of hepatitis A (about 3-5 deaths per 1,000 cases).

A person who has hepatitis A can easily pass the disease to others within the same household.

Hepatitis A vaccine can prevent hepatitis A.

What are the symptoms and diagnosis?

The symptoms of hepatitis A may include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, poor appetite and fever. Urine may become darker in color, and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes) may appear.

The disease is rarely fatal. Most people recover in a few weeks without any complications. Infants and young children tend to have very mild or no symptoms and are less likely to develop jaundice than are older children and adults. Not everyone who is infected will have all of the symptoms. The symptoms may appear 15 to 50 days after exposure, but usually average 28 to 30 days. The contagious period begins about two weeks before the symptoms appear and continues up to one week after onset of jaundice. Once an individual recovers from hepatitis A, he or she is immune for life and does not continue to carry the virus.

What causes it?

Anyone can get hepatitis A. However, people at greatest risk of infection are:

• Household contacts of infected people
  
• Sexual contacts of infected people
  
• People, especially children, living in areas with increased rates of hepatitis
  
• People traveling to countries where hepatitis A is common
  
• Men who have sex with men
  
• Injecting and non-injecting drug users
  

Hepatitis A virus usually is spread from person to person by putting something in the mouth (even though it may look clean) that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A. If careful hand washing is not done, the virus can than be carried on an infected person’s hands and spread by direct contact, or after drinking liquids or eating foods that have been handled by that individual. In some cases, it can be spread by drinking water and eating shellfish contaminated with improperly treated sewage.

You may not have any symptoms at all. Or you may have flu-like symptoms, or other symptoms similar to those described above. However, the only way to know if you are infected is to see your doctor and get a blood test for HAV antibodies.

• Conventional Treatments
  

There are no special medications or antibiotics that can be used to treat a person once the symptoms appear. Generally, bed rest is all that is needed.

There are precautions that can be taken to prevent the spread of hepatitis A. The single most effective way to prevent the spread is by careful hand washing after using the toilet. It is important to wash raw fruits or vegetables before consumption. Infected people should not handle foods during the contagious period. Household members, child-care contacts or others in close contact with an infected person should call a health-care provider to obtain immune globulin, which lessens the chances of becoming ill. In normal working and classroom situations, contacts do not need to receive immune globulin.

As a precaution, getting a Hepatitis A vaccine is much safer than getting the disease. Hepatitis A vaccine (two doses separated by six to 12 months) is available and recommended for the following people 2 years of age and older:

• Travelers to areas with increased rates of hepatitis A
  
• Men who have sex with men
  
• Injecting and non-injecting drug users
  
• People with clotting-factor disorders (e.g., hemophilia)
  
• People with chronic liver disease
  
• Children living in areas with identified increased rates of hepatitis A
  

• Alternative/Complementary Treatments
  

Fighting disease is a battle. Some turn to strictly alternative approaches in anguish when conventional treatments are exhausted. However, “alternative” treatments when used in addition to conventional medicine are often referred to as “complementary”. Complementary medicine is a more balanced approach in the effort to treat disease and is recommended because it allows one to take advantage of all options that are available.

It should be noted that because alternative or natural remedies are not regulated, many medical professionals advise against them because of the lack of pier studies and uncertainty of the level of quality control. In addition, they advise that any substance that can affect the body's chemistry can, like any drug, produce side effects that may be harmful. In other words, herbal remedies should be viewed as symptom treating aids, just as pharmaceutical drugs are.

However, there is hope. A relatively new science, called Glycobiology, now offers revolutionary and exciting options. Rather than taking the approach of treating a disease or even a symptom, Glycobiology addresses the nutritional requirement at the cellular level. It is believed that:

"Glycobiology is the last scientific frontier to be conquered. It is now understood that there is a 'sugar code' in biological structures that relates to both health and disease. Our ability to define the factors that regulate normal glycosylation of proteins and lipids, resulting in normal structures and functions, and those that cause disruption of normal sugar attachments will be important in understanding disease processes and their management.

Many investigative approaches are being used to study these structure-function relationships and their biological consequences. These include novel analytical techniques to investigate chemical and 3-dimensional structures, proteomics to understand the relationship between glycosylation change and disease, model living systems in which to study the impact of glycosylation, and new enzyme and glycotherapeutic techniques to alter abnormal structures.

Most major diseases that afflict mankind (e.g., cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative diseases) directly involve glycoconjugates. The ultimate goal is to develop the science of glycobiology so that it can have a significant impact on our ability to define and support health, and to diagnose and manage disease."
John S. Axford, BS, MD, FRCP

In 1994, legislation was passed that enabled millions of Americans to enjoy access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) revealed the following:

• The importance of nutrition and the benefits of dietary supplements to health promotion and disease prevention have been documented increasingly in scientific studies;
  
• There is a link between the ingestion of certain nutrients or dietary supplements and the prevention of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis; and
  
• Clinical research has shown that several chronic diseases can be prevented simply with a healthful diet, such as a diet that is low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, with a high proportion of plant-based foods;
  

I have seen first hand the power and benefits of Glycobiology as it relates to my wife LaDonna and her battle and victory against liver disease. Her turnaround validates the findings that Congress and many scientists in the field of Glycobiology have determined; we must not underestimate the importance of nutrition. A category of specific nutrients led us to find a specific nutritional therapy, which proved very positive. These particular nutrients are called glyconutrients. More specific information on these and other nutritional building blocks associated with this science may be found here.

A, B and C are the most common types of viral hepatitis in the United States. Blood testing can help a physician determine which form of hepatitis a patient has. Left untreated, viral hepatitis can lead to serious health disorders, and even death

Viral hepatitis is one of the most serious infections that can occur in pregnant women. The implications during pregnancy the risk of peri-natal transmission, and treatmentshould be considered.

In the United States, approximately one third of cases of acute hepatitis are caused by hepatitis A virus. The virus usually is transmitted by person-to-person contact through fecal–oral contamination. Poor hygiene, poor sanitation, and intimate personal or sexual contact facilitate transmission. Epidemics frequently result from exposure to contaminated food and water. In obstetric populations in the United States, the patients at greatest risk for hepatitis A infection are those who recently have emigrated from, or traveled to, developing nations where hepatitis A is endemic, particularly in Southeast Asia, Africa, Central America, Greenland, Mexico, and the Middle East. In the United States, the incidence of acute hepatitis A in pregnancy is approximately 1/1,000.

Hepatitis A is caused by an RNA virus. Its incubation period ranges from 15 to 50 days; the mean is 28–30 days. Feces contain the highest concentration of virus particles, and virus excretion reaches its maximum late in the incubation period and early in the prodromal phase of the illness. The duration of viremia is short, and the virus normally is not excreted in urine or other body fluids.

Serious complications of hepatitis A are uncommon. Among all acutely ill patients who require hospitalization, the overall fatality rate does not exceed 2/1,000 cases in the United States. A chronic carrier state of hepatitis A does not exist. In addition, perinatal transmission of the virus has not been demonstrated. Hepatitis A immune globulin is recommended for household contacts and contacts in day care centers and custodial institutions. It should be given as soon as possible after exposure; it is ineffective if given more than 2 weeks after exposure. A vaccine is available, which may be taken during pregnancy.

On a more personal note...

In June of 2004, my wife LaDonna was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis after blood tests,liver scan, and a liver biopsy revealed 85% damage. Her doctor recommended that she should consider a liver transplant as soon as possible.

The success of her treatment came as a result depending less and less on drugs and more and more on nutrition. The specific category of nutrition that brought about this success is glyconutrients.

It is clear that autoimmune hepatitis and hepatitis A are completely distinct conditions, and there is no evidence of a link between infection with the HAV and autoimmune hepatitis. However, just as autoimmune hepatitis presents chronic fatigue (as my wife LaDonna can attest), many with HAV begin to feel a similar chronic fatigue that is commonly associated with this particular disease.

While there are no guarantees, it is possible that LaDonna's treatment plan that led to a complete reversal of her autoimmune hepatitis could possibly offer similar hope for those suffering with HAV. The same glyconutrient therapy that brought about a reduction of chronic fatigue and a return of her energy level could conceivably bring about improved energy levels and improved liver enzymes levels in those afflicted with HAV. Just as her immune system was optimized, an optimized immune system in a patient with HAV could give the body a better chance of dealing with this virus.

While hepatitis A is caused from a different virus than that of hepatitis C, this fact is still worth noting. In a Clinical Study of 8 HCV-Positive Patients who were given natural Glyconutrient supplements, published in the peer-reviewed Medical Journal "Proceedings of the Fisher Institute For Medical Research", 88% showed improvements in ALT and/or AST, the Liver Enzyme markers which characteristically test abnormal for HCV patients. In addition, 50% of the patients showed marked improvement in fatigue.

Since this study was run, a higher potency Glyconutrient formulation has been developed and is the one that LaDonna used.

We invite you to stay and browse through the other information found on our site. Or perhaps you'd like to speak with us right away, to learn more about glyconutrients and the specifics of LaDonna's nutritritional therapy. Maybe you would like to explore if this therapy might be useful for other disease concerns. If so, please provide an e-mail address in the form below and we would be happy to get back to you with contact information so that we could make arrangements to speak privately with you at your convenience. Important: Please be sure that there are no typos in your e-mail address so that we will be successful in contacting you.

Please provide an e-mail address in the form below and we would be happy to get back to you with contact information so that we could make arrangements to speak privately with you at your convenience. Important: Please be sure that there are no typos in your e-mail address so that we will be successful in contacting you.

This site is Not Intended for and Does Not Give Medical Advice.

This web site is here for general purposes only. Nothing on it should be considered as medical advice, which can only be given to you by your own medical doctor. Some information you read on this site may be inappropriate for your own situation, or you may interpret or misinterpret something in a way that could be distressing or harmful to you. For advice about your own situation, ask your doctor!