What is hepatitis C?

Answer 1

hepatitis c is a double stranded RNA virus that replicates in the liver. it is found in the blood of those who are infected.
hcv is not just liver disease-it only needs the liver to multiply, change it's viron sequence and is transported to all other bodily functions via the blood stream.
hcv is usually chronic active in 85% of those infected, where as a slight 15% have the correct body to fight off the virus.
once infected-whether chronic or resolved, a person can no longer give blood or donate organs.
hcv affects over 4 million in the united states, far surpassing that of our hiv/aids epedimic.
hcv was thought of as an asymptomatic disease, however, in reality it is not. once infected with hcv, it causes much confusion in the body as a whole. a person might see the doctor for a lung disorder, a thyroid disorder or something as minima as a rash. the doctor does a blood lab, finding more often than not, no increase in alt and ast levels, so they assume the liver is fine. they treat more diseases associated with hcv (these are called bi-directional diseases) instead of treating the cause-hcv.
if you view hcv as a ball game, you will understand a bit more on how this virus works.
if you think of the liver as the home plate and the first batch of virons is sent to second base, the next up to bat is a different batch, they "hit" the ball, running to first, by then the first batch is already back on home (the liver). it creates another genetically altered batch of virons (quasispecies) and hits the ball running to third and so forth...by then the body is so confused as to how to "get it out or fight it" that other organ involvement over decades happen. it causes other organs to become diseased.
the first symptom usually for those is depression as hcv virons as well as the toxins from a damaged liver pass the blood brain barrier. some chalk it up to old age, their memory failing ect...some may have joint and bone pain, fluid retention, upper right quadrant pain, rashes, heart palipations, hair loss, kidney issues, diabetes or nash. the gallbladder may have stones.
there are many extrahepatic diseases associated with hcv-so in reality, this is why we've called it more than that of just liver disease.

i hope i've explained it to you well....hcv sucks. it's not something you should play around with-many folks fear antiviral chemotherapy so they opt to try unproven and potentially dangerous herbal treatments and things like cleansing and flushing, urine therapy, ionic therapy as well as many other things. many think they are "cured" by these means when their alt and ast levels are reduced to near minimum or are reduced to normal levels, but the truth here is that with hcv, the alt and ast levels can remain normal to begin with, yet a person still has active chronic hcv infection.

last but not least, hcv is not considered a "true std" because in order for hcv to transmit this way, there has to be blood present and the blood would only be transferrable if there were an open wound in the other person. hcv is blood to blood only. a person has more risk for hcv infection through household exposure than that of sex. household exposure meaning, sharps, ie, sharing a razor, toothbrush or cutting yourself after someone that is hcv infected cut themselves on the same item. toothbrushes you would view as non sharp, however, they can be abbrasive by scratching the gums and making them bleed. as with hcv, over time the blood thins and a person is more apt to bleed a little easier too.

Answer 2

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that can cause significant damage to the liver

Answer 3

the prefix -hepa comes froom greece, and it means "liver".
it's a disease that affects the liver and if it's not cared, it might kill you. usually this happens, in most cases.
your liver inflamates and the infection that causes it is really dangerous.
i recommend you to get your vaccinations every year no matter how old are you.

Answer 4

It's a disease that can cause liver damage, resulting in death.