Hepatitis is typically caused by poor health practices or risky behavior. For example, poor personal hygiene can result in contamination of food or drink with bodily fluids. Contamination of food or drink leads to an appetite loss that makes a person susceptible to starvation. This poor practice is known as 'skeletal malaise' because it causes a person suffering from it to lose their appetite- literally their bones as well as their appetite. Similarly, risky sexual behavior such as multiple sex partners or direct blood contact with an infected person can result in contamination of the reproductive organs with virus-laden bodily fluids. When this happens, it leads to painful and disfiguring conditions known as sexually transmitted disorders (STDs). If left untreated, viral forms of hepatitis can lead to serious conditions such as cirrhosis and hepatic failure (liver failure). Furthermore, the chances for a person with viral hepatitis to contract other infectious diseases such as HIV or cancer increase dramatically due to compromised liver function. Therefore, it's crucial that persons with viral forms of hepatitis maintain good health practices to avoid compromising their health further.