Hepatitis c
...epatitis A and B, but if you are exposed to the virus you usually become infected. Hepatitis C is quickly becoming a major health care problem. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, it has now reached epidemic proportions. It now ranks only slightly below chronic alcoholism as a cause of chronic liver disease, liver failure, and liver cancer in the United States. After being exposed to HCV, initial infection usually occurs within 6 to 7 weeks. Within approximately 2 months, most of those infected have injury to their liver cells. Only up to 35% of those infected experience symptoms. Symptoms may include tiredness, weakness, and weight loss. HCV resolves, or goes away by itself, without treatment in only 15% of cases. Six months after initial infection, HCV remains in 85% of those infected. These individuals develop chronic HCV. The course of HCV remains somewhat unpredictable. It may progress slowly, meaning the damage it causes may be slow to occur, or it can progress quickly, with damage occurring within 10 years of infection. The prognosis, or likely outcome, for those with HCV varies and is difficult to determine. It has been estimated that 20% to 30% of patients ultimately end up with serious damage to the liver. Symptoms do not appear in many patients until advanced liver disease has already developed. Symptoms at this time include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and/or whites of the eyes), significant weakness and weight loss, and bleeding in the gastrointestinal system, which includes the stomach and intestines. The liver is the organ most commonly affected by chronic hepatitis C virus. Chronic HCV leads to cirrhosis in about 20% of patients within the first 2 decades after initial infection. Cirrhosis is a disease of the liver that causes extensive damage to liver cells, interference with blood flow to the liver, and ultimately liver failure. Cirrhosis may develop more rapidly among patients who drink alcohol. Chronic infection with HCV is also associated with an increased risk of hepa...