IMPROVING HEALTH OF STEEMIANS #15- Hepatitis C

Hello my steemit community,

In today's edition of IMPROVING HEALTH OF STEEMIANS, I want to talk with you about Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the RNA, Hepatitis C virus. It is spread all over the world and it is believed that 150 to 200 million people are infected with this virus. It causes only few symptoms, so most of them don't know they are infected.

Initially, the disease was called "non-A, non-B hepatitis". The existence of this RNA virus was proved in 1989.

HEPATITIS C - TRANSMISSION

The virus spreads through the blood or body fluids of an infected person.

You can catch it from:

• direct contact with infected blood

• transfusion

• sharing narcotic needles

• non-sterile tattoo equipment

The virus is also transmitted by sexual intercourse and from mother to fetus.
In the case of as many as 30% of the infected, it is not possible to determine the way of transmission.

Before the virus was known, the blood for transfusions were not tested. For this reason, many people were infected by a transfusion. Hepatitis C is therefore called "post-transfusion hepatitis".

RISK FACTORS FOR HEPATITIS C INFECTION

You are at increased risk for an infection with this virus if you are:

• health worker who were in contact with the infected blood ( needle incident)
• having a sexual relationship with an infected partner
• using intravenous drugs
• HIV positive
• received a blood transfusion or an organ transplant before 1992.
• born between 1945 and 1965
• born to a mother with hepatitis C

To reduce the risk, follow these tips:

• use protection during sexual intercourse
• if you are a health worker, wear gloves and always be careful in dealing with blood
• do tattoos and piercings under sterile conditions
• do not share needles, syringes when injecting drugs

ACUTE HEPATITIS C INFECTION

Incubation (time from infection to symptoms) is 2 to 26 weeks, about 6 weeks in average.

Acute infection with the hepatitis C virus can be presented in several forms and it often passes without diagnosis because it rarely causes the symptoms.

10 to 50% of patients with acute infection will spontaneously recover, while others develop chronic hepatitis C.

Symptoms include:

• inexplicable tiredness
• weakness
• weak appetite
• weight loss
• jaundice
• dark urine
• nausea
• pain in the upper right part of the abdomen
• slightly elevated body temperature

The disease is most often diagnosed by routinely checked liver enzymes.

CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION

When liver inflammation lasts longer than 6 months, the disease is called chronic infection.

Roughly, 50 to 90% of patients develops chronic hepatitis C over several decades.

The immune system of the patient recognizes the virus and fights it with inflammation. Since the Hepatitis C virus easily mutates the immune system fails to "beat the virus".

Long-term inflammation causes liver cell damage, and the production of the connective tissue. Connective tissue does not have the same ability as a normal liver cell so the liver cirrhosis develops. Liver cirrhosis is irreversible state.

Most symptoms of chronic hepatitis C don’t appear until cirrhosis develops and the liver begins to fail. Those symptoms include weakness, weight loss, and blood clotting problems.

Today, we know that some factors like:

• length of infection
• consumption of alcohol
• infection with some other hepatitis virus (hepatitis A, hepatitis B)
• obesity
• smoking

affects the speed of disease development.

DIAGNOSIS

Given that most patients who are infected with hepatitis C virus don't have clear symptoms (the minority has a jaundice suggesting liver disease), blood tests are the most common way of detecting liver disease.

Increased liver enzymes ALT, AST and GGT are definitely an indication for further processing. One, isolated finding of poorly elevated enzymes is not an immediate alarm because it may indicate to inadequate nutrition or fatty liver.

Liver enzymes that are elevated in several measurements are certainly the reason for more detailed diagnostic tests.

Serologic tests can be also performed. They look for a specific antibodies (specific immunoglobulins) created by your organism in contact with the virus. In this case, anti-HCV antibodies are created and they become positive 7 to 8 weeks after infection.

If you get positive antibody findings, this is not a sign that you are currently ill. Some types of antibodies remains in your body entire life as memory antibodies in the case of a new contact with the virus and a faster response.

Evidence of current infection and active hepatitis C is a positive RNA virus in the blood (HCV-RNA) as determined by the PCR method. The test is positive as early as the 14th day since the virus entered the organism and remains positive throughout the whole acute and chronic infection.

Liver biopsy can be also performed.

TREATMENT

The choice of medication and the length of treatment depends on:

• genotype of the virus
• the presence of liver damage
• general condition of the organism and other diseases
• previous therapy

Also, for a normal function of the liver, some dietary changes are necessary.

images source:google image search

This advice is for general health and intended to supplement the information you receive from your treating doctor. It in no way replaces the advice of your doctor. Please see your doctor if you have specific concerns regarding your health.

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