1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Hepatitis

An Overview of Hepatitis Symptoms

By Charles Daniel, About.com

Updated: May 16, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Susan Olender, MD

Showing signs and symptoms is the way the body communicates a problem. Small problems usually lead to mild symptoms and large problems lead to strong symptoms. We all know the symptoms of common problems like sunburned skin and overworked muscles, but what about symptoms of the liver? How does the liver say that something is wrong? The liver has a big job in keeping the body healthy and if it has a problem, sometimes it can make a lot of noise, or better yet, color.

Jaundice

The most infamous sign of hepatitis is jaundice, which is an accumulation of a chemical called bilirubin in the body's tissues. The liver usually processes this chemical as a waste product, but when the liver is damaged it's unable to do its normal job and the chemical accumulates in the blood and starts to leak out into nearby tissue. When enough of this chemical accumulates it's possible to see a yellow color in the skin, urine and especially around the whites of the eyes. Though this is a very obvious sign, there are other more common signs and symptoms of hepatitis in the liver.

Other More Common Symptoms

  • Symptoms similar to gastrointestinal illness: loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and weight loss.
  • Symptoms similar to mild flu: fatigue, fever, headache, aches and pains.
  • Right-sided abdominal pain (due to an enlarged liver).
  • Signs of jaundice, dark-colored urine and light-colored stool.
Each type of hepatitis has its own set of symptoms. For example, if someone had jaundice, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and other mild flu-like symptoms, a doctor might suspect hepatitis A. However, if someone had jaundice with dark urine, muscle aches and pains, fatigue and loss of appetite, a doctor might suspect hepatitis C. Having any of these symptoms might be a reason to see a physician. Since common symptoms overlap with many diseases, sometimes blood tests are necessary to diagnose hepatitis.

Explore Hepatitis

More from About.com

About.com is accredited by the Health On the Net Foundation, which promotes reliable and trusted online health information.
  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Hepatitis
  4. Symptoms
  5. Hepatitis Symptoms - Symptoms of Hepatitis

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.