Did you know that there is an estimated 270 to 300 million infected people worldwide and 9 out of 10 people infected are not aware?

There are three types of Hepatitis, A, B and C. The Hepatitis C virus is a liver disease that causes inflammation; in fact the word Hepatitis is the Latin word for inflammation.

Most medical experts believe we are suffering from an epidemic of Hepatitis C. The problem with Hepatitis C is that a patient can be infected for decades before the virus is discovered, meaning someone infected with Hepatitis C can pass the virus on to others without knowledge.

Symptoms of type C Hepatitis

It takes one to six months for the virus to pass through its incubation period before symptoms may appear. Only one in ten patients actually has symptoms or signs that they could be infected, the other nine do not have any symptoms at all.

The symptom found most common in patients infected with Hepatitis C is fatigue; usually the initial diagnosis is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the diagnosis of Hepatitis C is normally found later on.

Early symptoms include

• Aching muscles and joints
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Loss of appetite or poor appetite
• Tiredness
• Aching or pressure under the right rib
• Intolerance of alcohol
• Weight loss
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dark Urine
• Light colored excrement
• Anxiety

In two thirds of cases Hepatitis C can last longer than 6 months, which is called Chronic Hepatitis C.

How is Hepatitis C contracted?

The origin of how a person contracted Hepatitis C in half of all cases is never found.

About thirty-five percent of infections are transmitted by blood-to-blood contact; this is normally through sharing needles while using recreational drugs.

Although rare, a small proportion of infections are contracted by

• Non-sterile body piercing and tattoo equipment
• Sexual intercourse
• Swapping bodily fluids like saliva
• Sharing toothbrushes or razors
• Blood transfusions in countries where screening for Hepatitis C is not carried out

Treating Hepatitis C

If the infection is found in time, before it evolves into chronic Hepatitis C, the infection can be treated by regular visits to the doctor and following the doctors advice of changing your diet, regular exercise and not drinking alcohol.

Drug therapy is needed for those who suffer with chronic Hepatitis C. There are two drugs that are normally combined to form treatment for long-term sufferers, Interferon and Ribavirin, which are antiviral drugs.

Those who take a full course of Interferon and Ribavirin (usually 6 months to a year) have a 55% chance of sustained improvement. There are negative affects to Interferon and Ribavirin; they can be so severe that patients find them intolerable. The negative effects are body aches, fatigue, hair loss, mood swings, depression, and blood conditions among others.

Summary

Should you feel that you have any of the symptoms named above than it may be beneficial to consult your doctor, as early detection is more likely to give you a better chance of coping with it and possibly receiving treatment to prevent further damage.
If you are found to suffer with Hepatitis C it can be a trying time, with support from your doctor you can lead a normal life.

One of the great mysteries of disease is why the same illness so often affects one group of people differently then another group. This is just as true of the Hepatitis C virus as it is of so many others. Hepatitis C affects the African American population in the United States worse the Caucasian, Hispanic or Asian populations. Why this is this way is unknown but recent studies continue to show that there are startling differences.

Interferon is the most commonly, and best, used drug to fight the Hepatitis C virus. A recent study was conducted to compare success rates amongst various racial groups. The tests were done after the patients had completed their first round of treatment. In the study group the viral loads became negative, that means there was no longer enough virus in the blood to be detectable, in forty percent of Asian patients, thirty three percent of Caucasian patients, twenty eight percent of the Hispanic patients but only a mere five percent of the African American patients. Doctors and scientists alike do not understand this huge discrepancy. Another study showed that Natives of Alaska had a forty five percent success rate. That leaves open a big question; why do African Americans fair so poorly when it comes their reaction to the drug therapy for the Hepatitis C virus?

Of the nearly four million people in the Untied States who are infected with the Hepatitis C virus eight hundred and eight thousand are African Americans. That is twenty two percent of those diagnosed. Of those more are men. They are more likely to be infected with type one, which is the more common amongst all populations. It is also the hardest to treat. But, for reasons that are still being studied they are much more resistant to the treatments currently being used. African Americans get very little benefits from an Interferon therapy program. They must use both Interferon and Ribavirin in conjunction with one another for treatments to be of benefit. They are also more likely to contract cancer of the liver then their non-African American counterparts.

In another study, which matched carefully the doses of all participants to be certain there were no discrepancies, it had similar results. Twenty six percent of the African American patients showed a decrease in viral loads as opposed to the thirty nine percent of the Caucasians who showed improvement. Then they looked at studies where fifty two percent of Caucasians improved with only nineteen percent of the African Americans having lower viral loads. The researchers compared everything from weight, age and other medical conditions but they still have no answers to this continuing discrepancy.

Some researchers believe that at this point the treatment should be discounted. If the results are not great why should treatment continue? Others say that if the results are poor it is still a better idea to do a second round of drug therapy to try to give the patient the best possible opportunity for improved health.

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