What Is Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a type of virus that mainly attacks the liver. It kills liver cells and triggers the body's immune system to fight back. This can lead to inflammation (swelling) and/or fibrosis (scarring) of the liver. If left untreated, hepatitis C can cause serious conditions such as cirrhosis (in which healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue), and liver cancer.
Most people who are infected with the hepatitis C virus go on to develop chronic hepatitis C. The infection becomes chronic (long-lasting) because the body's immune system is unable to fight it off.
Symptoms
The common symptoms of hepatitis C include:
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, muscle aches, joint pain, and headaches)
- Nausea, aversion to certain foods, unexplained weight loss
- Psychological disorders, including depression
- Tenderness in the abdomen
- Jaundice (yellowing of the skin)
Here's the tricky part: for many people, hepatitis C is an asymptomatic condition. That means they may not have symptoms until many years after they are infected. But having no symptoms does not mean that hepatitis C is not attacking your liver. Many people are unaware of any symptoms until significant liver damage has occurred.
That's why it's so important to talk to your doctor about your treatment options.
Continue to learn how hepatitis C is transmitted