What is Hepatitis C and How is Discovered
- 09.25.09
- Hepatitis C Treatments, health, hepatitis, treatment
- 16 Comments
Hepatitis is known as the inflammation of the liver produced by viruses, medications, toxic agents. Hepatitis of viral cause is considered to be acute or chronic. There are different types of viruses that produce different types of hepatitis: hepatitis A, B, C, D, E each has its own characteristics.
Hepatitis C is shared by contaminated needles, drug-injection equipment, non-sterilized equipment for acupuncture, tattooing and body piercing, by unprotected sex, during delivery from mother to baby, when prizing cocaine, through a blood transfusion.
Some people may have no evident symptoms but they transmit the virus to others.
Most common symptoms include: nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, weight loss, itchy skin, jaundice. A high percent of people pass the virus to others and remain infected for many years, acute hepatitis becomes chronic hepatitis. The complications that occur in chronic hepatitis are: liver cirrhosis, liver cancer.
You are advised to search help in local clinics of sexual health, or special clinics which include: genito-urinary department, sexually transmitted diseases, venereal diseases departments. You can find the nearest clinic by searching on the internet or phone at your local hospital. Treatment and advices are free and confidential. NHS sexual health clinics usually offer the kind of treatment needed in the cases of acute hepatitis. You may also address: your own GP, a hospital Accident and Emergency department, www.playingsafely.co.uk offers detailes of STD clinics, to http://herpes-coldsores.com/support/std_clinic_us.htm for STD clinics in Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and India.
There are some tests to be performed to see exactly, if you are infected and with what type of hepatitis, blood tests, a test for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus which shows if you have antibodies against hepatitis C virus and that you have been exposed to hepatitis C virus and the source of infection is important to be discovered, if your tests are positive it means you are infected with hepatitis and you can pass it to others.
Some people remain chronically infected with hepatitis C virus and transmit the infection to others, liver function tests, liver biopsy are required to see if you need to follow any treatment. A reinfection may occur any time. If the result is negative it means that you have never been in contact with hepatitis C virus. Those test(blood tests, physical check-ups) are recommended to be repeated in specialized services. At present there is no vaccine anti- hepatitis C available. Other measures you should take if you have active hepatitis are adopting a healthy diet with no fats and low salt, use condom when you have sex in order not to pass the virus to your partner, do not share your toothbrush or your shaving equipment.
Remember to use condoms so as not to pass or get sexually transmitted infections.
If you want to find out more resources about causes of hepatitis c or even about hepatitis c treatment you should visit this website http://www.hepatitis-guide.com
Watch the video related to hepatitis c treatments
Part one in a series of interviews filmed with Jake. In this video Jake discusses finding out he has hepatitis C, how he got hepatitis C, and what his symptoms are. Stay tuned for the next videos in the series, where Jake shares his experience and advice about treatment options, discrimination, and living with hep C. Presented by: Hepatitis Council of QLD www.hepqld.asn.au 1800 648 491 (In Australia)
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If you want to find out more resources about causes of hepatitis c or even about hepatitis c treatment you should visit this website http://www.hepatitis-guide.com
Thank you very much for posting this. I caught it too but thank God it was just the antibodies. It is VERY scary. PRAISE God for his wonderful mercy and kindness.
good vid
anyone who is interested in learning more about living with hep c may also find the book “Living With Hepatitis C for Dummies” useful. it explains how hep C affects the body and gives advice on today’s treatment options-from drugs (and their side effects) to transplants and alternative therapies-as well as tips on dealing with the emotional and financial burdens the disease brings with it.
selfservingbooks (.) com/dummies/Living+With+Hepatitis+C+for+Dummies/1219
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She needs an internal meds doctor to run the labwork for her. Liver enzyme test..
next up viral load (tells how much poison you have)
genotype (tells how long you would need to do treatment IF treatment is recommended)
liver biopsy < the only way to tell the stage of the liver.
HCV is not transmitted from mother to child during birth..ok..its not the norm..nor is it sexually transmitted.
Hepatitis C is a blood to blood disease.
very interesting… i hope they can get it to work…
I myself am a nurse, and really, I know it seems scary and could potentially do more harm, but you need to tell your doctor about the percocet. I have never heard of a doctor that wouldnt help you because you were self medicating with someone elses meds. Especially if you have no insurance, in all reality, what can he expect. I would tell him, and perhaps your honsesty will go a long way with him.
)
In the end….if you dont tell him, you are only harming yourself.
Best vid in every facet on the hep c i have seen.
this is good – this is the RIGHT way to address bbv’s
Face & stories to the virus… Reminded me how naive med. profession was re the hep c when i got really sick/diagnosed. The discrimination is the worst part. Even when my hair fell out & i was bedridden i could handle that better than the discrimination.
This was an eye opening experience. Thanks for sharing, and I would like to keep up with Jake’s Story. Thanks
From what you said, i think you HCV negative.
I copy – paste this for you :
How long after exposure to HCV does it take to test positive with PCR?
It is possible to find HCV within 1 to 2 weeks after being infected with the virus.
http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/c/faq.htm#5a
Who should get tested for hepatitis C?
- persons who ever injected illegal drugs, including those who injected once or a few times many years ago
- persons who were treated for clotting problems with a blood product made before 1987 when more advanced methods for manufacturing the products were developed
- persons who were notified that they received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C
persons who received a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July 1992 when better testing of blood donors became available
- long-term hemodialysis patients
- persons who have signs or symptoms of liver disease (e.g., abnormal liver enzyme tests)
- healthcare workers after exposures (e.g., needle sticks or splashes to the eye ) to HCV-positive blood on the job
- children born to HCV-positive women
im on pegasys and riba.
its not that bad (i guess i am one of the lucky ones)
wish you an SVR
Hepatitis C (HCV) Flavivirus (Choo, Kuo, et al., Science 244:359, 1989)
prior to this it was dubbed NANB- (non a-non b hepatitis) or non transfusion hepatitis
People react to the treatment differently. My mom got Hep C from a blood transfusion in the 1960's and she took the interfuron treatment and cleared the virus 8 years ago. She had horrible side effects. She had no energy what-so-ever. She had terrible chills and itched horribly. She couldn't stand to have certain fabrics of clothes touch her because they would make her itch. She forced herself to keep taking the meds and cleared the virus. I got Hep C from my mom when I was born. I took my first treatment when I was in 8th grade didn't have any side effects at all besides redness at the injection site. The first treatment didn't work for me. I started my second treatment back in March and I thought I was going to die, the side effects were so bad. I lost 20 lbs in a month because I couldn't eat. Food made me sick. My hair started falling out. I had chills. I was so weak. Seriously, I would almost faint from trying to brush my teeth. I had no energy at all. None. All I could do was lay on the couch most of the day. My husband had to help me take a bath because I was too weak to do it myself. It was horrible. I felt horrible. All of this happened within the first month. The treatment effects everybody differently. I was on the daily shot with four pills daily too. Your brother might really be feeling this way. I truly couldn't do anything when I was on the treatment. So, these side effects might really be happening to your brother as well. He needs to see his doctor if they are. He should be going in every two weeks anyway to have blood drawn. So, next visit, he needs to tell the doc exactly what side effects he is having. Good luck.
Hep C:
In April of 1989, the discovery of the virus, re-named hepatitis C virus, was published in two articles in Science.
Was discovered by Dr Matthew Hoare
Hep A & B:
Although hepatitis has been known for centuries, before World War II doctors did not know that it was caused by a virus. It was assumed to be contagious because epidemics of hepatitis often occurred in crowded, unsanitary conditions, but how it was passed from person to person was a mystery.
Headway into solving the mystery was made in the 1940s by a British doctor, F. O. MacCallum, who specialized in liver disease. He was concerned not so much with hepatitis as with the extremely deadly yellow fever transmitted by mosquitoes, which was killing soldiers in Africa and South America. Charged with the production of a yellow fever vaccine, MacCallum was perplexed as to why a sizable proportion of soldiers who received the yellow fever vaccine developed hepatitis a few months later. The yellow fever vaccine contained human serum, and MacCallum was aware of other hepatitis cases reported in the medical literature that followed inoculation with vaccines containing human serum. He also knew of cases that followed the reuse of unsterilized syringes and needles in the treatment of diabetes or venereal disease, instruments that could contain particles of blood. MacCallum came to suspect that a virus carried in human blood could cause hepatitis.
A series of observations of volunteers by MacCallum and others during and shortly after the war strengthened that hypothesis and made it clear that hepatitis can also be spread by other means than through blood. MacCallum coined the term hepatitis A for the form of the disease that is spread primarily through food and water contaminated with minute quantities of fecal material and the term hepatitis B for the form that is transmitted mainly by exposure to contaminated blood.
Thank you kindly Jake and all my love and luck to you of course:) God be with you every step of the way
my husband had Hep-C. 4 yrs ago he took the interferon/ rivalviran treatment and believe me it was hell doing the injections. He only did them for a 4 month period and couldn't take it anymore. BUT he has not had any symptoms since that time. They say it is not a cure and it could come back out of remission at any time but his has not and he is really glad at this point that he did the treatment even for a short time.
There are some herbalist out there that say they can treat with various combinations of herbs and do the same thing but don't know if it works. I have heard of several of them coming from Mexico.
Hepatitis C is absolutely an STD, because it can be transmitted during any sexual activity that involves blood communication. First time sex, anal sex, etc, etc. It's possible, and is therefore considered an STD.
That said, the Center for Disease Control does NOT recommend abstinence or even condoms for monogamous sex partners already known to be free of other illnesses.
There is no reason to give him up just because he has Hep C. Many will never even prevent symptoms – and just this year they've announced a possible cure in the way of combo treatment with Interferon and Ribavirin.
That's not a guarantee, yet, but it's hopeful.
You should be careful not to share toothbrushes, manicure clippers, etc, however, because minuscule blood exchange can pass it.
Hep C can live up to 4 days on a dry toothbrush – something to remember.
More info here: