Clinical course of viral hepatitis and the effect of exercise during convalescence

The Treatment of Acute Infectious Hepatitis. Controlled Studies of the Effects of Diet, Rest, and Physical Reconditioning on the Acute Course of the Disease and on the Incidence of Relapses and Residual Abnormalities 1

“…In these few patients, therefore, it is probably unwise to administer more than a maintenance quantity of protein. 3. Analyses of covariance.…”

“…Asymptomatic laboratory relapses occurred early in convalescence with equal frequency for both groups of patients. 3. There was no evidence that ad lib.…”

“…It was advocated by some that bed rest should be continued not only until all symptoms and signs had disappeared, but even until the major liver function tests returned to normal (1,2). Later studies by others (3,4) suggested that the period of bed rest need not be that prolonged. It remained to be clearly demonstrated that the enforcement of strict bed rest was necessary at any time during the acute phase of the illness.…”

“…Numerous checks on the method of randomization showed it to have been effective. 3. Several analyses of the effects of caloric intake, protein composition of the diet, and supplementary choline and vitamins on the duration of acute infectious hepatitis revealed the following: a) Patients fed a high-protein diet (19 per cent protein calories) throughout their illness had a mean duration of illness 14 per cent shorter than the duration of patients fed a "normal"-protein diet (11 per cent protein calories).…”

“…To illustrate this fact data from descriptions of epidemics of infectious hepatitis among military personnel in post-war Germany, and during World War II in the United States, Great Britain, Italy, and the Middle East (1)(2)(3)(34)(35)(36) are presented in Table XX, Appendix II. As might be expected, there was considerable variation in the manner in which the data were handled in each of these reports, and some liberties have been taken in the tabulation to make them as comparable as possible.…”