Groshan Fabiola asked:


Hepatitis is the medical term for a condition that has as a result the inflammation of your liver. In most of the hepatitis cases, the inflammation is caused by an infection. The other reasons that can lead to hepatitis are alcohol abuse, different types of medication, poisons and even other diseases. There are different types of hepatitis, one of them being hepatitis C. This particular type of hepatitis is caused by the hepatitis C virus.

Here are some very important facts to remember when suffering form hepatitis C:

- if the inflammation caused by the hepatitis C virus is not reversed in time, it can lead to chronic hepatitis; in turn chronic hepatitis can lead to chronic disease of the liver, that can go as far as liver failure or death;

- if other hepatitis treatments did not work and you find yourself in the situation of a liver failure, the only thing left to do is a liver transplant;

- an astonishing number of almost eighty percent of the people that suffer from hepatitis C also develop the chronic hepatitis C form;

Nowadays, hepatitis C has become a very serious threat worldwide. In some countries, like the United States Of America, at the top of the causes that lead to liver damage is hepatitis C. The hepatitis C virus is very spread and many Americans are victims. The hepatitis C virus is also the reason for about twenty percent of the acute hepatitis and more than fifty percent of the cirrhosis cases are believed to be caused by the hepatitis C virus. There are many people that have antibodies for the hepatitis C virus, thing that means that they were exposed to this hepatitis virus once in their lives.

The hepatitis C virus is very contagious and is mostly transmitted through blood products or blood. Contaminated needles are a very big part of infection with hepatitis C. People who use drugs intravenous and use dirty needles are very much at risk of developing hepatitis C. Blood transfusions are also a risk factor when hepatitis C is concerned. Nowadays, there is a test that is done to see if the blood that will be given to another person is infected with the hepatitis C virus.

There are also other causes of infection withe the hepatitis C virus, but they are less common. The hepatitis C virus can be passed down from mother to infant or through sexual intercourse.

For more resources about hepatitis c treatment please review http://www.hepatitis-guide.com/causes-of-hepatitis-c.htm or even http://www.hepatitis-guide.com/hepatitis-c-symptoms.htm

Joshua

Dustin A asked:


Had unprotected sex the other night with someone i dont really know, a friend siad he heard this person had hepatitis. Please help.

Chester

blondie27 asked:


How high is the risk of contracting Hepatitis A in Taiwan? Please answer only if you have concrete knowledge of the risk specific in Taiwan.

Marian

peterhutch asked:


The hepatitis C virus is usually detectable in the blood within one to three weeks after infection, and antibodies to the virus are generally detectable within 3 to 12 weeks. Approximately 15-40% of persons infected with HCV clear the virus from their bodies during the acute phase as shown by normalization in liver function tests (LFTs) such as alanine transaminase (ALT) & aspartate transaminase (AST) normalization, as well as plasma HCV-RNA clearance (this is known as spontaneous viral clearance). The remaining 60-85% of patients infected with HCV develops chronic hepatitis C, i.e., infection lasting more than 6 months.

Hepatitis C is one of five currently identified viruses–hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E–all of which can attack and damage the liver. Widely viewed as one of the most serious of the five, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread primarily through contact with infected blood and can cause cirrhosis (irreversible and potentially fatal liver scarring), liver cancer, or liver failure. Hepatitis C is the major reason for liver transplants in the United States, accounting for 1,000 of the procedures annually. The disease is responsible for between 8,000 and 10,000 deaths yearly.

Symptoms of Hepatitis C

At the beginning of an hepatitis C virus infection, only about 25% of patients exhibit the characteristic symptoms of acute (rapid onset) hepatitis. These symptoms include fatigue, muscular aches, poor appetite, and low-grade fever. Rarely, yellowing of the skin and/or eyes (jaundice) also occurs. However, most patients (about 75%) experience minimal or no symptoms at the onset of hepatitis C virus.

Most patients with hepatitis C do not experience symptoms. If they appear at all, symptoms develop about 1 – 2 months after a person is infected. Symptoms of progressive chronic viral hepatitis may be very subtle. In some patients, itchy skin is the first symptom. Overall, fatigue is the most common symptom. Many patients do not experience any symptoms at all.

A minority of people have symptoms during the early acute phase of the infection. These symptoms typically develop 5-12 weeks after exposure to HCV. Some people describe the symptoms as being flulike. The symptoms may last a few weeks or months.

If the infection has been present for many years, the liver may be permanently scarred — a condition called cirrhosis. In many cases, there may be no symptoms of the disease until cirrhosis has developed.

Causes of Hepatitis C

A small number of babies born to mothers with hepatitis C acquire the infection during childbirth. Mother-to-infant transmission rates are higher among women infected with both hepatitis C and HIV. Talk with your doctor about these risks before becoming pregnant.

Hepatitis C can cause damage to your liver, even if you don’t have symptoms. You’re also able to pass the virus to others without having any symptoms yourself. That’s why it’s important to be tested if you think

IV drug use appears to be the most common mode of HCV transmission, accounting for 50 percent or more of infections. Sharing drug needles or having received a tattoo from an unclean needle are also risk factors. Sexual transmission is less common than with hepatitis B. Maternal transmission of HCV infection has been demonstrated, but the incidence appears to be low (about 2-5 percent).

Transfusion with infected blood or blood products, hemodialysis, or transplantation of organs from infected donors was once a common mode of transmission but is now rare.

Juan

james sameul asked:


BackgroundHepatitis is a general term that refers to inflammation of the liver. This condition may result from various infectious and noninfectious etiologies.Infectious etiologies include viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic organisms.Medications, toxins, and autoimmune disorders may cause noninfectious hepatitis. This article focuses on acute infectious hepatitis with a brief discussion of drug-induced and autoimmune hepatitis at the end of the article.Hepatitis is the Latin word for liver inflammation. It is characterised by the destruction of a number of liver cells and the presence of inflammatory cells in the liver tissue. Hepatitis can be divided into two subgroups according to its duration: ·    acute hepatitis - lasting less than six months·    chronic hepatitis - lasting longer than six months.The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most important causes of chronic liver disease in the United States. It accounts for about 15 percent of acute viral hepatitis, 60 to 70 percent of chronic hepatitis, and up to 50 percent of cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, and liver cancer. Of the U.S. population, 1.6 percent, or an estimated 4.1 million Americans, have antibody to HCV (anti-HCV), indicating ongoing or previous infection with the virus. Hepatitis C causes an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 deaths annually in the United States.How does someone get hepatitis?The hepatitis A virus can enter a person’s body when he or she eats or drinks something contaminated with the stool or blood of someone who has the disease. Symptoms usually appear suddenly, but are not followed by the chronic (long-lasting) problems that hepatitis B and C viruses can cause.symptoms may last a few weeks or months. ·    Nausea ·    Vomiting ·    Diarrhea ·    Loss of appetite ·    Fatigue·    Pain over the liver (on the right side of the abdomen, just under the rib cage) ·    Jaundice - A condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow How common is it?In recent years, about 3000 cases of hepatitis B have been reported annually in Canada, but many more cases probably remain unreported. Incidence of the disease varies from region to region. Analysis of donated blood indicates that about 0.15 percent of donors carry the hepatitis B virus, although for patients in a general hospital it can be as high as 0.80 percent. Blood tests also indicate that about 5 percent of people in Canada have had hepatitis B at some point in their lives. What is the prognosis of viral hepatitis?The prognosis of viral hepatitis for most patients is good. Symptoms of viral hepatitis such as fatigue, poor appetite, nausea, and jaundice usually subside in several weeks to months, without any specific treatment. In fact, virtually all patients with acute infection with hepatitis A and most adults (greater than 95%) with acute hepatitis B recover completely.

Chad

peterhutch asked:


One of the major problems with hepatitis C virus infections is that 85% of individuals initially infected with this virus will become chronically infected, usually for decades. The other 15% of hepatitis C virus infected individuals simply have an acute infection; that is, one that resolves spontaneously in a few weeks or months. The propensity of hepatitis C virus to cause chronic infection is explained by the extraordinary ability of this virus (in contrast to most other viruses, including hepatitis A) to avoid destruction by the body’s immune defense system. (The immune system includes antibodies and specialized white blood cells, called lymphocytes).

About 80% of newly infected patients progress to develop chronic infection. Cirrhosis develops in about 10% to 20% of persons with chronic infection, and liver cancer develops in 1% to 5% of persons with chronic infection over a period of 20 to 30 years. Most patients suffering from liver cancer who do not have hepatitis B virus infection have evidence of HCV infection. The mechanisms by which HCV infection leads to liver cancer are still unclear. Hepatitis C also exacerbates the severity of underlying liver disease when it coexists with other hepatic conditions. In particular, liver disease progresses more rapidly among persons with alcoholic liver disease and HCV infection.

There are 2 main kinds of hepatitis, acute hepatitis and chronic hepatitis. When a person has hepatitis, the liver may become inflamed very suddenly. This is called acute hepatitis. If you have acute hepatitis, you might have nausea, vomiting, fever and body aches. Or you may not have any symptoms. Most people get over the acute inflammation in a few days or a few weeks. Sometimes, however, the inflammation doesn’t go away. When the inflammation doesn’t go away, the person has chronic hepatitis.Most people who are infected with hepatitis C don’t have any symptoms for years. A blood test can tell if you have it. Unlike some other forms of hepatitis, hepatitis C does not get better by itself. The infection can last a lifetime and may lead to liver cancer. Medicines sometimes help, but side effects can be a problem. Serious cases may need a liver transplant.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a long course of anti-viral medicines. Although early medical intervention is helpful, people with HCV infection often experience mild symptoms, and consequently do not seek treatment. An estimated 150-200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.

With the subsequent development of cirrhosis of the liver (more advanced scarring), hepatitis C virus patients can have muscle wasting, generalized weakness, and easy bruising. Later symptoms, which are due to the complications of cirrhosis, include fluid retention, which leads to edema (swelling of the lower extremities) or ascites (fluid in the abdominal cavity), internal bleeding (usually from dilated esophageal veins called varices), and mental confusion or sleepiness (due to hepatic encephalopathy). Another complication of hepatitis C virus cirrhosis is cancer of the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma or hepatoma), which can cause abdominal pain, weight loss, and fever.

Current medical treatment for HCV is limited to pegylated interferon combination therapy. This therapy is effective in less than 50% of cases of HCV genotype 1 (the most common genotype in North America). Two companies, Roche and Schering, have their own FDA approved versions. Each claims their formulation is superior for treating Hepatitis C. Your doctor will likely recommend one or the other (doctors have no other medicine to offer to treat this disease). You can find more information about each of these drug protocols at this website and elsewhere on the internet.

Ashley

Bertil Hjert asked:


Most people across the globe are not well informed about Hepatitis C. No wonder, why they are attacked by this infectious virus, once in their life time. Hepatitis C can also be referred to as the type of Hepatitis that shows symptoms similar to the flu.

This is the reason that people are not aware of the fact that they have been infected with the virus of Hepatitis C. The virus is only detected when the person visits a health care practitioner for a medical examination.

It is a serious issue and one needs to keep oneself fully informed about this virus in order to save health and getting affected from the serious side effects.

A) What is Hepatitis C?

As already mentioned Hepatitis C is an infectious virus. This virus is transmitted in to the blood; it travels across and then destroys the liver. It is sad but true that about 240,000 Canadians are infected by this virus and only a fraction of this population is aware of the infection. Young people are more prone to this virus attack.

B) How to know about the attack?

It is very important to know about the attack and its symptoms. Once the person is attacked by this virus, there are 100 per cent chances that the patients suffer from jaundice, dark urine, loss of appetite, and nausea or abdominal pain. A combination of these symptoms may also be experienced by the patient.

This is a disease of the liver caused by Hepatitis C virus. The condition is thereafter transmitted as soon as the blood from an infected individual enters the body of another person who is not infected.

C) The disease can spread in the following ways:

- Sharing needles

- From an infected mother to the unborn child

- Blood transfer from an infected donor

- Sharing personal items such as razors

- Tattooing and Body piercing

Unfortunately, Hepatitis C has no vaccine. However, there are certain blood tests available to check this disease. You need to contact a health care practitioner for a blood test soon if you have recently received blood from an infected donor. The same applies to a situation where you have injected illegal drugs.

You should also consider speaking to your medical practitioner if you have been on long-term kidney dialysis or if you have been defected having a liver disease.

All the blood tests conducted would be anti- Hepatitis C.

Prevention is the best thing to practice as there is no vaccination for Hepatitis C. You need to keep tabs on the symptoms of this disease constantly in order to detect it at early stages and start the treatment as early as possible.

D) Here are some of the signs and symptoms to look for in order to detect the presence of infectious virus Hepatitis-C:

- Fatigue; Loss of appetite

- Nausea

- Diarrhea; Vomiting

- Headache

- Yellowing of the skin; Yellowing of whites of the eye

- Clay colored stools; Dark, coffee-colored urine

- Muscle aches, Mild fever

It is likely that some people show no signs or symptoms mentioned above. Getting a check up at the slightest doubt is the best preventative measures to be taken in this regard.

Katie

me4u38967 asked:


I have to take peg-intron and rebetol medicine for my hepatitis. After my insurance i am still going to have to pay over $2000 for one month of medication. Was wondering if anyone knew of something else to do?

Lester

Groshan Fabiola asked:


Hepatitis C is a severe disease caused by a virus that affects the liver. The virus is transmitted by blood to blood contact and contrary to what some people believe, you can’t get the virus by touching or kissing an infected person. You can get it by getting an injection with the same needle that was used on someone with the virus or by having sexual intercourse with a person that suffers from hepatitis C.

The disease can be acute or chronic, in the first 6 month from the infection it is acute and it rarely presents any symptoms. In 20% of the cases the virus is eliminated from the body in these first 6 month. If it is not eliminated then the hepatitis becomes chronic and the virus starts to affect the liver. It does serious damage to the liver and it must be treated as much as possible.

The purpose of the hepatitis C treatment is to try to stop the virus from causing more damage to the liver and to try to eliminate it from the body.

If a patient has a mild acute hepatitis C than they probably don’t know that they have it because there are no symptoms, but if they know that they have been infected then the treatment to prevent the hepatitis from becoming chronic must be started. This treatment is not hard and it is successful in most cases.

If a chronic hepatitis was just diagnosed than treatment must begin soon. The patient’s life changes when he/she fins out that he/she has chronic hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is treated with the help of drugs> Most doctors recommend a combination of interferon with ribavirin. These two drugs help the body figt the hepatitis C virus and try to stop it from inflammating the liver.

The treatment period depends on the patient and on the type of hepatitis genotype the patient has. Genotype 2 and 3 need 6 months of treatment and genotype 1 usually takes one year to treat.

The hepatitis C treatment may or may not work. Some people are cured and at some people the drugs have no effect. If the doctors see that 3 months have passed without any result then the treatment is ceased. A recent study has shown that the hepatitis treatment work for half the patients.

The bad part about the treatment is that the drugs are very expensive and they also have serious side effects. The most common side effects are headaches, fever, fatigue and weakness, depression and more.

Some people do not even start the hepatitis C treatment because of its cost, chance of success and side effects. You need to consult your doctor and make a decision on what treatment you would like to choose.

If you want to find out more resources about hepatitis c treatment or even about causes of hepatitis c you should visit this website http://www.hepatitis-guide.com

Bessie

Steve Mathew asked:


Hepatitis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Definition

Hepatitis known as an inflammation of the liver , is a gastroenterological disease. Hepatitis is generally categorized as a viral or non-viral hepatitis. Viral hepatitis can be considered “rapid” a position that comes on frequently with severe symptoms and for a short time or “chronic” a position that comes on slowly, may or may not have symptoms for a long time.

Lot of sickness and conditions that can lead to inflammation of the liver, for example, drugs, alcohol , chemicals, and autoimmune diseases ,which are categorize as a non viral cause & some viruses that cause inflame the liver, for example, the virus of mononucleosis and the cytomegalovirus can be categorize as a viral .However,Most viruses don’t impact on liver .But when doctors speak of viral hepatitis, they generally are referring to hepatitis caused by some specific viruses that primarily attack the liver .There are number of viruses that causes hepatitis. They have been called types A, B, C, D, E, F & G. All of these viruses can result an acute disease with appearance number of weeks including yellowing of the skin and eyes called as jaundice, dark urine, high fatigue, nausea, vomiting & abdominal pain. It can take various months to a year to experience fit again. The most common hepatitis viruses are types A, B, and C

Causes

Hepatitis is most generally caused by one of three viruses: A,B,C.

Hepatitis A virus : It is the one of the most common form of hepatitis also known as infectious hepatitis .It is a liver disease caused by the (HAV) hepatitis A virus .Hepatitis A can impact on any person. It (HAV) exist in the stools (feces or poop) of infected persons. HAV is spread when individual ingests something that is infected with HAV-contaminated stool ,in water, milk, and foods, especially in shellfish .

Hepatitis B virus : is a severe disease caused by a virus that harms the liver .It is commonly known as hepatitis B virus (HBV).It also called as serum hepatitis.It can cause a wide number of symptoms ranging from general malaise to lifelong infection, cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. HBV spreads by contaminated body fluids, such as blood, saliva, semen, vaginal fluids, tears, and urine, a infected blood transfusion ,

shared infected needles or syringes for injecting drugs ,sexual activity with an HBV-infected individual,transmission from HBV-infected mothers to their newborn infants.

Hepatitis C virus: is one of the common liver disease caused by a virus known as HCV(hepatitis C virus) .Infection with the hepatitis C virus can cause chronic liver disease and is the leading reason for liver transplant . HCV is spread by direct contact with an infected person’s blood, getting a tattoo or body piercing with unsterilized tools, sharing drug needles , sexual contact with infected person.

Symptoms

Hepatitis, in its primary stages, may produces flu-like symptoms, including:

Malaise

Mild fever

Muscle or joint pains

Appetite loss

Nausea

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Slight abdominal pain

diarrhea

Fatigue

Hepatitis in its secondary stages i.e. if hepatitis progresses, its symptoms rarely serious or fatal embryonic to the liver as the source of sickness and rapidly progressing form leads to death. It symptoms, including:

Jaundice (yellowed skin, mucous membranes and whites of the eyes).

Foul breath .

Dark urine or tea-colored urine.

Light colored stools that may retain pus.

Itching.

Enlarged spleen.

Hives .

Treatments

There is no specific remedy for hepatitis A. Most cases of hepatitis A resolve themselves spontaneously.

The doctors prescribed rest is the only treatment for hepatitis B is rest, combined with a high protein, carbohydrate food to repair damaged liver cells and protect the liver.An antiviral agent called interferon is prescribed by the doctors if hepatitis B persists.

An antiviral agent called interferon is prescribed by the doctors if hepatitis B persists.

Hepatitis C is cured with a combination of pegylated interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin.

Currently, there is no efficacious treatment for hepatitis D and E.

Holly