Patient's question:
A week ago, when I chatted with my grandfather, he said he hasn't been hungry lately and has been experiencing frequent nausea and dry heaves, along with occasional dull pain in the liver area. I took my grandfather to the hospital for a thorough examination, and the doctor said he had hepatitis. This made us both very worried, as it is said that this disease is incurable. However, my grandfather has always lived a very regular life, and I don't know what could have caused him to get this illness. What are the causes of hepatitis?Doctor's answer:
Using liver-damaging drugs: Many drugs such as tetracycline, erythromycin, rifampin, methyldopa, bisacodyl, sulfonamides, and anesthetics can exacerbate liver damage. Commonly used fever-reducing and blood-activating drugs like aspirin and acetaminophen also have toxic effects on the liver.Overmedication: Due to the chronic and prolonged nature of the condition, and the wide variety of hepatitis drugs available on the market with uncertain efficacy, patients may be eager to seek treatment. They might take multiple different hepatitis medications simultaneously or increase the dosage, mistakenly believing this will "enhance" the therapeutic effect.