UNIVERSAL HEALTH: Hepatitis C

What is Hepatitis? How does it affect people? What are the signs and symptoms of Hepatitis C? How can I prevent Hepatitis C? How can I live with it? All of these questions and more will be answered in the content you see here. Read on for more:

Hepatitis is a disease or inflammation of the liver and affects the liver's ability to do its many jobs. Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or Hepatitis D can infect a person although this article will outline specifically Hepatitis C, which is caused by a virus.

• Produces bile, and bile helps to digest fats.
• Helps to regulate the amount of sugar, protein and iron in the blood.
• Produces factors that help the blood to clot, preventing excessive bleeding.
• Filters the blood to remove particles like bacteria, and processes many of the drugs we take.

There are four major types of hepatitis that occur in the US—types A, B, C and D.

Type A is spread mainly by stool from infected persons, but can also be spread by blood or sexual contact. The other types, B, C and D, are all transmitted by contact with blood or body fluids.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is transmitted through blood and body fluids. It is most commonly spread when drug abusers share needles. Other ways of transmission include accidental needle-sticks, tattoos/body piercing, hemodialysis, and from an infected mother to her unborn baby. Hepatitis C Virus can be transmitted through organ transplants and blood transfusions, although these modes are now rare due to better screening tests. HCV can also be transmitted by sexual contact but it is rare.

Signs and symptoms of Hepatitis C Virus infection can range from no symptoms to severe illness. The majority of people infected with HCV show no initial signs or symptoms of illness, and If signs do occur, they usually include nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, jaundice, and dark brown urine.

For some people, the onset phase of Hepatitis C infection heals after several weeks to several months, and no further problems occur. However, many people infected with HCV develop chronic infection, lasting more than six months. For most of these people, severe liver problems result, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer, and even death.