WHAT IS AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS/LIVER DISEASE?
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an uncommon chronic liver disease that has the potential to lead to cirrhosis. It is characterized by inflammation of the liver and/or liver damage caused by an attack on the liver by a person’s own immune system. This disease was first recognized in 1950, when it was noted that the condition primarily affected young women who stopped menstruating (a condition known as amenorrhea); who suffered from arthritis; who had a severe form of chronic hepatitis that rapidly progressed to cirrhosis; and who had an elevated protein (gamma globulin) found on their blood tests.
Some similarities between AIH and systemic lupus erythematosus ((SLE)) another autoimmune disease, led to AIH being named lupoid hepatitis in 1956. Presently, much more is known about AIH. For starters, it has been confirmed that AIH and SLE are two totally separate disorders. Thus, the term “lupoid hepatitis” is no longer used. Furthermore, it has been established that despite a greater occurrence rate among young women - women account for approximately 70 to 80 percent of cases - AIH may also occur in men, and it may occur in either gender at any age. Finally, case studies have established that AIH has varying manifestations. It is not always a severe, rapidly progressive disease, as originally believed. In fact, it may have a mild, asymptomatic (without symptoms) natural history.
AIH occurs in about 100,000 to 200,000 people in the United States at any given time, and it accounts for approximately 10- 20% of chronic hepatitis cases in the world. Approximately 6% of liver transplantations in the United States are performed due to AIH.
It was originally believed that the disease most commonly manifested itself at either of two age intervals - peripubertally (around 13 years old), or around fifty to sixty years old. It is now known that AIH can develop at any age, and has been diagnosed in infants as well as in people in their seventies. However, in most cases, a patient with AIH is over 40 years old at the time of initial visit to a liver specialist.
All contents of this article are Copyright © Melissa Palmer, MD
Melissa Palmer, MD is the author of " Dr. Melissa Palmer's Guide of Hepatitis and Liver Disease". (Published 2004. Penguin Putnam).
Dr. Palmer is an internationally renowned hepatologist who has been practicing medicine since 1985. Prior to 2012, she maintained perhaps the largest medical practice devoted to liver disease in the United States. Dr. Palmer is Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University Medical Center. Dr. Palmer graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. and was trained in hepatology (as well as medical school) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Dr. Palmer is Board Certified in Gastroenterology and in Internal Medicine.
She has authored numerous scientific publications in the field of hepatology in such peer-reviewed journals as Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Seminars of Liver Disease, Transplantation and Archives of Internal Medicine.
She is frequently called upon by the media for her opinion on various topics related to liver disease. Dr. Palmer has appeared many times on television as a liver disease expert and has been quoted in such publications as TIME magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Prevention magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday. She also has appeared in numerous videos and CD-Roms aimed at educating doctors and the public about hepatitis C and other liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis. Dr. Palmer lectures to the medical and general public on liver disease-related topics on a regular basis.
Dr. Palmer has performed numerous clinical trials on various experimental medications for the treatment of hepatitis.
Dr. Palmer is currently available for lecturing, investor and hedge-fund consultations, consultations to industry, and media interviews and appearances-- including television. For such matters, she can be contacted through hepatitismedia@gmail.com.
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