Hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver. The virus can cause serious damage to the liver. The infection spreads when you come in contact with infected or contaminated blood.

In the past, medicines for hepatitis C it included oral medications and weekly injections. Many people were unable to use the medications due to side effects and other underlying health problems.

Today, the virus can be treated with oral medications prescribed to be taken daily for 2-6 months. The worrying thing is that most people with the infection don’t even realize it. This is because symptoms are not always present and it may take a long time before they appear.

Therefore, it is recommended that all adults in the 18 to 79 age group be tested for the virus, even when they do not have liver disease or any symptoms. The group most at risk of contracting the virus are those born between 1945 and 1965.

Symptoms

Hepatitis C can be chronic, meaning it can last for many years until the liver is damaged enough to cause symptoms associated with liver disease. Some of the symptoms may include:

• Poor appetite
• Tired
• Bruising easily
• Bleeds easily
• Weightloss
• Leg swelling
• Ascites or fluid accumulation within the abdomen.
• Skin itch
• Dark urine
• Jaundice
• Spider angiomas or spider-shaped blood vessels in the skin
• Drowsiness
• Speak slurred
• Confusion

Before reaching the chronic stage, the infections are first acute. Hepatitis C is generally not diagnosed because, in most cases, there are no symptoms involved. Acute symptoms can appear months after exposure.

The infection does not always become chronic. The body can clear the infection on its own in some cases. Antiviral therapy generally helps with acute hepatitis C.

Causes

HCV or the hepatitis C virus causes infection and is spread when contaminated blood enters the body of someone who is not infected. The virus exists in different genotypes. Seven genotypes are quite different. Another 67 subtypes have also been identified. In the United States, type 1 is the most common.

Chronic infection usually follows the same course. However, the treatments used can vary depending on the genotype involved.

You are at an increased risk of infection if you ever:

• Inhaled or injected illicit drugs
• You are HIV positive
• Has been tattooed or pierced in an environment that is not clean or unsterile.
• Received an organ transplant or blood transfusion before 1992
• You have been receiving a type of hemodialysis treatment.
• Your mother had the infection
• Or have you ever received a clotting factor concentrate before 1987

The infection can cause liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure.

Treatment

Diagnosis can be made by MRE, transient elastography, blood tests, or liver biopsy.

Hepatitis C can be acute or chronic. There are different risk groups and screening is recommended even when no signs are present. Complications can be serious and sometimes fatal. Treatment is highly recommended.