Hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. This disease is blood borne, which means that you can get infected through in contact with infected blood. The most common way the disease spreads is by sharing needles and syringes when using IV drugs, though inhaled and intranasal drugs also pose a risk, because even a small drop of infected blood, invisible to the naked eye, can still cause an infection. Hepatitis C is also considered a professional disease for health care workers, as they can become infected vie needle stick injuries when handling infected blood.
You don't have to be a drug user, or a doctor, to be at risk of contracting hepatitis C. The disease can also be spread by sharing razors or toothbrushes, as those items can contain traces of infected blood as well. Since getting tattoos or piercings involves needles piercing your skin, these types of body modification can get you infected too. Hepatitis C can further be transmitted sexually, as well as passed from an infected mother to her baby during childbirth.
Once the disease is contracted, the acute phase of the disease begins. This form of disease usually shows little to no symptoms, and, a lot of times, people don't even know that they're infected. Symptoms which may occur, such as mild fever, loss of appetite or fatigue, rarely make anyone think that there's something wrong with their liver. About 30 percent of infected people are able to fight the disease on their own, and their immune system is able to clear the virus out of the organism within six months, with no serious complications.
Hepatitis C is diagnosed by blood tests. Each time our body encounters a foreign molecule, the immune system produces specific molecules to fight those intruders. The same goes for this virus. There are tests to determine the presence and levels of specific anti-hepatitis C antibodies in the patient's blood. Since hepatitis C often shows little to no symptoms, you should really get tested, especially if you engaged in some sort of risky behavior, such as drug use, unsafe sex, getting a tattoo or a piercing, or if you're a medical professional who had a needle stick injury.
What is chronic hepatitis C?
Symptoms of chronic hepatitis C include:
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Jaundice
- Dark urine
- Light stool
- Hives
The exact molecular mechanism behind this type of liver cancer is yet to be discovered, but some studies suggest that hepatitis C messes up communication in liver cells. The cells use certain molecules to communicate, and to act in a certain way. This virus makes the cell produce different molecules, which interrupts with the gene expression in the cell, altering the cells usual mechanism of survival, transformation and proliferation. In short, it makes the cell act abnormally, causing it replicate without any form of control. This, plus the chronic inflammation the viral infection causes, is believed to be the underlying cause of hepatocellular carcinoma caused by hepatitis C.
Fatty liver occurs in about 55 percent of chronic hepatitis C patients. This condition is caused by both the viral proteins interrupting cell communication pathways, and by some factors contributed by the patients themselves (like obesity, diabetes, alcohol consumption).
What can we do about it?
Despite the ongoing efforts of scientists worldwide, an effective vaccine against hepatitis C still doesn't exist. However, one can lower their risk of getting infected by avoiding risky behavior, such as sharing needles, syringes, razors, and similar equipment which might contain traces of infected blood. Practicing safe sex is also essential in staying hepatitis C free.
As for treatment, there are a number of options, and treatment is up to 95 percent effective. The therapy is taken in the form of the pill, and it can be effective in as little as two or three months. But this goes only for first world countries. Antiviral medications, as well as diagnostic procedures, aren't available, or are way too expensive, in a lot of developing countries. In 2017, the WHO estimated that 71 million people were living with hepatitis C worldwide. However, only 19 percent actually knew that they were HCV positive, and, of those 13 million people, only about five million were being treated.
In some cases, if the liver has deteriorated too much, or in the case of cirrhosis or liver failure, liver transplantation is the only option available.
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