Alive Mega Nutritionals and Hepatitis A-E

I have been receiving a lot of inquiries whether Alive Meganutritionals can be an alternate medicine against Hepatitis A – G, but before I can answer that, let me enumerate the definition, its treatment and prognosis for each specific Hepatitis virus:

Hepatitis A, (formerly known as infectious hepatitis), is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by Hepatitis A virus,which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water. Every year, approximately 10 million people worldwide are infected with the virus. The time between infection and the appearance of the symptoms, (the incubation period), is between two and six weeks and the average incubation period is 28 days

Treatment: There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Sufferers are advised to rest, avoid fatty foods and alcohol (these may be poorly tolerated for some additional months during the recovery phase and cause minor relapses), eat a well-balanced diet, and stay hydrated. Approximately 15% of people diagnosed with hepatitis A may experience one or more symptomatic relapse(s) for up to 24 months after contracting this disease

Prognosis: The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1991 reported a low mortality rate for hepatitis A of 4 deaths per 1000 cases for the general population but a higher rate of 17.5 per 1000, in those aged 50 and over. Young children who are infected with hepatitis A typically have a milder form of the disease, usually lasting from 1-3 weeks, whereas adults tend to experience a much more severe form of the disease.

Hepatitis B virus infects the liver of hominoidae, including humans, and causes an inflammation called hepatitis. It is a DNA virus and one of many unrelated viruses that cause viral hepatitis. The disease, originally known as “serum hepatitis”,has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic in China. bout a third of the world’s population, more than 2 billion people, have been infected with the hepatitis B virus.This includes 350 million chronic carriers of the virus.[The acute illness causes liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and-rarely-death. Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer-a fatal disease with very poor response to current chemotherapy. The infection is preventable by vaccination

Treatment: Acute hepatitis B infection does not usually require treatment because most adults clear the infection spontaneously. Early antiviral treatment may only be required in fewer than 1% of patients, whose infection takes a very aggressive course ("fulminant hepatitis") or who are immunocompromised. On the other hand, treatment of chronic infection may be necessary to reduce the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Chronically infected individuals with persistently elevated serum alanine aminotransferase, a marker of liver damage, and HBV DNA levels are candidates for therapy.

Although none of the available drugs can clear the infection, they can stop the virus from replicating, and minimize liver damage such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Currently, there are seven medications licensed for treatment of hepatitis B infection in the United States. These include antiviral drugs lamivudine (Epivir), adefovir (Hepsera), tenofovir (Viread), telbivudine (Tyzeka) and entecavir (Baraclude) and the two immune system modulators interferon alpha-2a and pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys). The use of interferon, which requires injections daily or thrice weekly, has been supplanted by long-acting pegylated interferon, which is injected only once weekly. However, some individuals are much more likely to respond than others and this might be because of the genotype of the infecting virus or the patient's heredity. The treatment works by reducing the viral load, (the amount of virus particles as measured in the blood), which in turn reduces viral replication in the liver.

Infants born to mothers known to carry hepatitis B can be treated with antibodies to the hepatitis B virus (hepatitis B immune globulin or HBIg). When given with the vaccine within twelve hours of birth, the risk of acquiring hepatitis B is reduced 95%. This treatment allows a mother to safely breastfeed her child.Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease that is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), affecting the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or other complications of cirrhosis, including liver cancer.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. Although early medical intervention is helpful, people with HCV infection can experience mild symptoms, and consequently do not seek treatment. An estimated 150-200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.

Treatment: There is a very small chance of clearing the virus spontaneously in chronic HCV carriers (0.5 to 0.74% per year), however, the majority of patients with chronic hepatitis C will not clear it without treatment.

Current treatment is a combination of pegylated interferon alpha (brand names Pegasys and PEG-Intron) and the antiviral drug ribavirin for a period of 24 or 48 weeks, depending on genotype. Indications for treatment include patients with proven hepatitis C virus infection and persistent abnormal liver function tests. Sustained cure rates (sustained viral response) of 75% or better occur in people with genotypes HCV 2 and 3 in 24 weeks of treatment, about 50% in those with genotype 1 with 48 weeks of treatment and 65% for those with genotype 4 in 48 weeks of treatment. About 80% of hepatitis C patients in the United States have genotype 1. Genotype 4 is more common in the Middle East and Africa. Should treatment with pegylated ribivirin-interferon not return a 2-log viral reduction or complete clearance of RNA (termed early virological response) after 12 weeks for genotype 1, the chance of treatment success is less than 1%. Early virological response is typically not tested for in non-genotype 1 patients, as the chances of attaining it are greater than 90%. The mechanism of action is not entirely clear, because even patients who appear to have had a sustained virological response still have actively replicating virus in their liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The evidence for treatment in genotype 6 disease is currently sparse, and the evidence that exists is for 48 weeks of treatment at the same doses as are used for genotype 1 disease. Physicians considering shorter durations of treatment (e.g., 24 weeks) should do so within the context of a clinical trial.

Treatment during the acute infection phase has much higher success rates (greater than 90%) with a shorter duration of treatment; however, this must be balanced against the 15-40% chance of spontaneous clearance without treatment (see Acute Hepatitis C section above).

Those with low initial viral loads respond much better to treatment than those with higher viral loads (greater than 2 million virions/ml). Current combination therapy is usually supervised by physicians in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology or infectious disease.

The treatment may be physically demanding, particularly for those with a prior history of drug or alcohol abuse. It can qualify for temporary disability in some cases. A substantial proportion of patients will experience a panoply of side effects ranging from a 'flu-like' syndrome (the most common, experienced for a few days after the weekly injection of interferon) to severe adverse events including anemia, cardiovascular events and psychiatric problems such as suicide or suicidal ideation. The latter are exacerbated by the general physiological stress experienced by the patient.

Current guidelines strongly recommend that hepatitis C patients be vaccinated for hepatitis A and B if they have not yet been exposed to these viruses, as this would radically worsen their liver disease.

Alcoholic beverage consumption accelerates HCV associated fibrosis and cirrhosis, and makes liver cancer more likely; insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome may similarly worsen the hepatic prognosis. There is also evidence that smoking increases the fibrosis (scarring) rat.

Hepatitis D is a disease caused by a small circular RNA virus (Hepatitis delta virus or hepatitis D virus, HDV). HDV is considered to be a subviral satellite because it can propagate only in the presence of another virus, the hepatitis B virus (HBV).[1] Transmission of HDV can occur either via simultaneous infection with HBV (coinfection) or via infection of an individual previously infected with HBV (superinfection).

Both superinfection and coinfection with HDV results in more severe complications compared to infection with HBV alone. These complications include a greater likelihood of experiencing liver failure in acute infections and a greater likelihood of developing liver cancer in chronic infections.[2] In combination with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis D has the highest mortality rate of all the hepatitis infections of 20%.

Treatment: Since HDV is dependent on HBV for replication, control of HDV infection is achieved by targeting HBV infections. All measures aimed at preventing the transmission of HBV will prevent the transmission of hepatitis D. HBV vaccination is therefore recommended to avoid HBV-HDV coinfection.

However, there is no effective measure to prevent HDV infection of chronic HBV carriers, and prevention of HBV-HDV superinfection can only be achieved through education to reduce risk behaviors. Promising research results indicate that in some woodchucks immunized with recombinant purified HDAg-S complete protection is possible.

Currently there is no effective antiviral therapy available for treatment of acute or chronic type D hepatitis. For infected patients, massive doses of a-interferon (9 million units three times a week for 12 months or 5 million units daily for up to 12 months) have yielded remissions, but most patients remained positive for HDV RNA despite the improved disease conditions. The effect of interferon is considered to be most likely an indirect one, possibly via an effect on the helper hepadnavirus and/or on the immune response to the infections.

Hepatitis is a general term meaning inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis is a disease that can be caused by a variety of different viruses such as hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. Since the development of jaundice is a characteristic feature of liver disease, a correct diagnosis can only be made by testing patients’ sera for the presence of specific viral antigens and/or anti-viral antibodies.

Hepatitis E (HEV) was not recognized as a distinct human disease until 1980. Hepatitis E is caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus, a non-enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Although man is considered the natural host for HEV, antibodies to HEV or closely related viruses have been detected in primates and several other animal species.

Treatment: Hepatitis E is a viral disease, and as such, antibiotics are of no value in the treatment of the infection. There is no hyperimmune E globulin available for pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis. HEV infections are usually self-limited, and hospitalization is generally not required. No available therapy is capable of altering the course of acute infection.

As no specific therapy is capable of altering the course of acute hepatitis E infection, prevention is the most effective approach against the disease. Hospitalization is required for fulminant hepatitis and should be considered for infected pregnant women

(sources: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets;  http://en.wikipedia.org)

Now based on the information provided above, hepatitis has no specific treatment, it all depends on the type of virus the patient is afflicted and the severity of the infection.

Alive Mega Nutritional IS NOT an alternative medicine, its purpose is to supplement whatever medication the patient was into, furthermore, IT IS NOT intended to replace the existing medication of the patient, but more on fortifying the patient’s system and help him /her combat the disease by replacing the lost nutrients during his / her bout with the disease and at the same time speed up the healing process.