Hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver. This disease affects many people worldwide, and it is estimated that about 71 million people suffer from hepatitis C around the globe, while approximately 700,000 people die from complications related to hepatitis C in western countries each year.
Hepatitis C is a blood borne disease. It is usually transmitted via contaminated equipment used for IV drug abuse, but other means of transmission (such as getting tattoos or piercings, or unsafe sex practices) can also lead to an infection. In approximately 30 percent of all cases, the illness lasts for a few months, after which the virus is spontaneously cleared out of the organism. In other cases, however, the disease takes a chronic form, which can last for months or years, and is sometimes even lifelong.
What do you need to know about liver transplantation for hepatitis C patients?
1. Finding a suitable liver is not an easy job
In the past few decades, our civilization has made many notable and, one can even say, astonishing scientific breakthroughs, not only in medicine and life sciences, but in other sciences, such as sociology and anthropology, as well. Technology all around us is being improved as we speak, so we're also experiencing an evolutionary shift, in a way (for further philosophy behind this, I recommend you see a movie called "Waking Life"). But, although there have been successful experiments with pluripotent, stem cells, and 3D printing of organs, we're not quite there yet, and we still resort to traditional liver transplantation, from one person to another.
The other thing we need to address is the number of donors. A lot of people don't want their organs to be donated, for one reason or another. Which reminds me of a story about a Brazilian billionaire who wanted to be buried with his expensive car, so he could use it in the afterworld. After a public outrage, it was revealed that this was just a performance by this eccentric gentleman, to raise awareness of organ donation, making a parallel between a car and an organ, neither of which are of any use to a dead person.
The circumstances of death should also be taken into consideration, because, even if a person made a decision for their organs to be used to save other people, in some cases, that just isn't possible. My mom wanted her organs to be donated when she died (even though this went against her religious beliefs) so that's what I told the doctors at the hospital where she passed away. Unfortunately, since my mom died of cancer, they weren't able to use her organs, since it was possible that the cancer cells spread to other organs as well.
The good news is that we don't have to wait for a person to die anymore, to get the organ. Since the liver has a great capability of regeneration, a part of the healthy organ is removed from the donor, and transplanted to the recipient. Within a year, the removed part will regenerate, and the liver will be in a perfectly healthy condition.
2. Even if everything checks out, you might get rejected
The waiting lists are long. Depending on the region, it might take more than a year (and sometimes even longer) to get the transplantation. Since donated organs are scarce, doctors will check every possible reason for which you might not be a suitable receiver at that point. This includes your age, habits, substance abuse, both now and in recent years, family history, and your health condition in general, to name a few.
3. Even if all goes well, you might still reject the received organ
Sometimes, organ transplantations just don't work, and we have our own immune system to thank for that. The immune system has one job, and that is to protect us from all foreign influences that might kill us. There is a certain type of white blood cells that goes around, and checks all the molecules it comes across, to see if those molecules belong in our body or not.
So, if the white blood cell doesn't recognize the molecule, that molecule is considered the enemy and must be destroyed. This works for viruses, bacteria, parasites, even molecules of poison, but it also works for organ transplants. To fight this, people who receive organ transplants also receive medicine to lower the immune system response. While, on one hand, this helps with lowering the risk of organ rejection, it also makes you more susceptible to infections.
4. The future is bright
As mentioned earlier, scientists are experimenting with stem cells, that will, hopefully, be able to replace not only the liver, but a number of other organs as well. Other means are also being developed, such as an artificial liver, which works outside of the body, and prolongs the life of the patient just enough for the adequate liver to be found.
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