Hepatitis C is a liver disease. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is the painful, red swelling those results when tissues of the body become injured or infected. Inflammation can cause organs to not work properly. In other hand we can say Hepatitis C is a liver disease.

What is the liver?

The liver is an organ that does many important things.

• Removes harmful chemicals from your blood
• Fights infection
• Helps digest food
• Stores nutrients and vitamins
  
•                                               Stores energy

Who gets hepatitis C?

Anyone can get hepatitis C, but some people are at higher risk, including

• People who were born to a mother with hepatitis C
• People who have had more than one sex partner in the last 6 months or have a history of sexually transmitted disease
• People who had a blood transfusion or organ transplant.
• People with hemophilia who received blood products.
• People who have used illegal injection drugs

How could I get hepatitis C?
You could get hepatitis C from

• Being born to a mother with hepatitis C
• Having sex with an infected person
• Being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools that were used on an infected person
• Getting an accidental needle stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
• Using an infected person’s razor or toothbrush
• Sharing drug needles with an infected person

You cannot get hepatitis C from:

• Shaking hands with an infected person
• Hugging an infected person
• Sitting next to an infected person

What are the symptoms of hepatitis C?

Most people have no symptoms until the virus causes liver damage, which can take 10 or more years to happen. Others have one or more of the following symptoms:

• Yellowish eyes and skin called jaundice
• A longer than usual amount of time for bleeding to stop
• Swollen stomach or ankles
• Easy bruising
• Tiredness
• Upset stomach
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhea
• Light-colored stools
• Dark yellow urine

What is chronic hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is chronic when the body can’t get rid of the hepatitis C virus. Although some people clear the virus from their bodies in a few months, most hepatitis C infections become chronic. Without treatment, chronic hepatitis C can cause scarring of the liver, called cirrhosis; liver cancer; and liver failure.

Symptoms of cirrhosis include

• Yellowish eyes and skin called jaundice
• longer than usual amount of time for bleeding to stop
• Swollen stomach or ankles
• Tiredness
• Nausea
• Weakness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Spiderlike blood vessels called spider angiomas that develop on the skin

How is hepatitis C diagnosed?

Hepatitis C is diagnosed through blood tests, which can also show if you have chronic hepatitis C or another type of hepatitis. Your doctor may suggest getting a liver biopsy if chronic hepatitis C is suspected. A liver biopsy is a test for liver damage. The doctor uses a needle to remove a tiny piece of liver, which is then looked at with a microscope.

How can I avoid getting hepatitis C?

You can protect yourself and others from hepatitis C if you

• Do not share drug needles
• Wear gloves if you have to touch another person’s blood
• Use a condom during sex
• Do not borrow another person’s toothbrush, razor, or anything else that could have blood on it
• Make sure any tattoos or body piercings you get are done with sterile tools
• Do not donate blood or blood products if you have hepatitis C

What should I do if I think I have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus?

      See your doctor and get tested if you are at higher risk of getting hepatitis C or if you think you were exposed to the hepatitis C virus. Many people do not know they are infected. Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent liver damage.

Points to Remember

• Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus.
• Anyone can get hepatitis C, but some people are at higher risk.
• You could get hepatitis C through contact with an infected person’s blood.
• Hepatitis C is chronic when the body can’t get rid of the hepatitis C virus.
• Liver damage can take 10 or more years to happen and is often the first sign of hepatitis C.
• Get tested if you are at higher risk or think you may have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus. Many people do not know they are infected.
• Chronic hepatitis C is treated with drugs that slow or stop the virus from damaging the liver.

What is the treatment of hepatitis C?

      The treatment hepatitis C has advanced in recent years which have greatly improved the outlook for people with hepatitis C. The main aim of treatment is to clear the hepatitis C virus from the body and so prevent severe liver damage leading to cirrhosis.

Interferon is also known as peg interferon. It is the newest form of a medicine called interferon which is similar to a substance produced in your body, also called interferon. It helps your body get rid of the hepatitis C virus. This may stop the virus damaging your liver. This is usually given as one injection each week.

Ribavirin is a drug that fights viruses. It is given in combination with paginated interferon and is taken each day as a tablet or as a liquid. A course of treatment lasts 6-12 months, depending upon your type of hepatitis C. It takes about 12 weeks to tell if this treatment is working.

Liver transplant

      For some people with advanced cirrhosis, liver transplantation may be an option. Although this is a major operation, the outlook following a liver transplant can be very good. However, the new liver may also eventually become damaged by the persisting hepatitis C infection.

Diet and alcohol

      Most people with chronic hepatitis C will be advised to eat a normal healthy balanced diet. Ideally, anybody with inflammation of the liver should not drink alcohol. If you already have liver inflammation, alcohol increases the risk and speed of developing cirrhosis.

Vaccinations

      If you have never been infected with hepatitis A or B in the past then you should be vaccinated against these viruses.

Duration

      Almost six months. The optimal duration of treatment varies depending on whether interferon monotherapy or combination therapy is used, as well as by HCV genotype. For patients treated with peg interferon monotherapy, a 48-week course is recommended, regardless of genotype.

Who should not be treated?

Therapy is inadvisable outside of controlled trials for patients who have

• Clinically decompensated cirrhosis because of hepatitis C
• Kidney, liver, heart, or other solid-organ transplant
• Specific contraindications to either monotherapy or combination therapy

Side Effects of Treatment:

   Common side effects of alpha interferon and peg-interferon (occurring in more than 10 percent of patients) include:

• Fatigue
• Muscle aches
• Headaches
• Nausea and vomiting
• Skin irritation at the injection site
• Low-grade fever
• Weight loss
• Irritability
• Depression
• Mild bone marrow suppression
• Hair loss (reversible)
• Aanemia
• Fatigue and irritability
• Itching
• Skin rash
• Nasal stuffiness, sinusitis, and cough

   Rare side effects include acute congestive heart failure, renal failure, vision loss, pulmonary fibrosis or pneumonitis, and sepsis. Deaths have been reported from acute myocardial infarction, stroke, suicide, and sepsis.

   A unique but rare side effect is paradoxical worsening of the disease. This effect is assumed to be caused by induction of autoimmune hepatitis, but its cause is really unknown. Because of this possibility, aminotransferases should be monitored. If ALT levels rise to greater than twice the baseline values, therapy should be stopped and the patient monitored.

Sexual exposure:

Sexual transmission of HCV is considered to be rare. Studies show the risk of sexual transmission in heterosexual, monogamous relationships is extremely rare or even null. The CDC does not recommend the use of condoms between long-term monogamous discordant couples (where one partner is positive and the other is negative).However, because of the high prevalence of hepatitis C, this small risk may translate into a non-trivial number of cases transmitted by sexual routes.