Toxic hepatitis

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Definition Symptoms Causes Risk factors When to seek medical advice

Tests and diagnosis Complications Treatments and drugs Prevention

Definition

Your liver plays a key role in detoxifying harmful substances that you may eat, drink, inhale or rub on your skin. However, the liver is no match for certain toxins, including some common medications. Toxic hepatitis is liver inflammation that occurs when your liver is damaged by toxic chemicals, drugs or certain poisonous mushrooms.

In some cases, toxic hepatitis develops within hours or days of exposure to a toxin. In other cases, it may take months of regular use before symptoms of toxic hepatitis appear. Often, the symptoms clear when your exposure to the toxin stops. But toxic hepatitis can permanently injure your liver, leading to irreversible scarring of liver tissue (cirrhosis) and in some cases to liver failure.

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Symptoms