Living with Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infection caused by the Hepatitis C virus.
Chronic Hepatitis C infection affects people differently. Some people will have no liver damage or scarring. Others will have mild liver damage. A small number of people though, will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer. i
Symptoms of Hepatitis C vary from person to person. Some people will not experience symptoms of Hepatitis C at all, while others will. The impact of these symptoms will also vary from person to person, with some people experiencing mild symptoms and others experiencing more severe symptoms. ii
It is important to understand that the symptoms you may experience do not necessarily indicate the degree of damage to your liver. This means that a person experiencing severe symptoms does not always have severe liver damage and a person with mild or no symptoms may actually have some degree of liver damage. ii
The Impact of Hepatitis C
It is difficult to determine who will progress to liver damage and scarring, how severe this damage will be and how quickly this damage may occur.
iii The risk of liver damage can be influenced by several factors, for example: the length of time you have been infected by the Hepatitis C virus; age when first infected; male gender; alcohol use; co-infection with Hepatitis B virus and/or HIV, and obesity.
iv
References
i AASLD Practice Guidelines - Diagnosis, Management and Treatment of Hepatitis C. Ghany M.G., Strader D.B., Thomas D.L., Seef L.B. Hepatology, Vol 49, No 4, 2009.
ii HIV, viral hepatitis and STI's - A Guide for Primary Care. Australasian Society for HIV Medicine. 2008 edition.
iii Poynard T et al. Lancet 1997; 349: 825-32
iv Adapted from Hepatitis Australia fact sheet: Hepatitis C - A Summary