Diseases » Chronic Hepatitis C » Introduction

Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C: Introduction

A long term hepatitis C infection. Hepatitis C is liver inflammation caused by the HCV virus. If the inflammation becomes long term (i.e. chronic) chronic liver disease may develop which is a serious condition. A large number of people who become infected with hepatitis C develop chronic hepatitis C. ...more »

Chronic Hepatitis C: Misdiagnosis

Hepatitis C, particularly chronic hepatitis C, can remain undiagnosed for years. Because the symptoms of hepatitis C can be mild or vague, hepatitis C can be misdiagnosed as another disorder or remain undiagnosed. Reader's Digest reported on a case of a woman undiagnosed with hepatitis C for 19 years, despite suffering varying bouts of fatigue or exhaustion. ...more misdiagnosis »

Symptoms of Chronic Hepatitis C

• Fatigue
• Abdominal discomfort
• Nausea
• Poor appetite
• Muscle pain
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 16 symptoms of Chronic Hepatitis C

Treatments for Chronic Hepatitis C

• Alpha interferon
• Combination alpha interferon and ribavirin
• Hepatitis C is rarely diagnosed in its acute phase and treatment is usually aimed at management of the chronic infection. Treatments include:
  • Avoidance of alcohol and medications that may worsen hepatic function, or rely on the liver for metabolism
  • Antiviral therapy - Ribavirin - usually used in conjunction with interferon
• more treatments...»

Read more about treatments for Chronic Hepatitis C

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Chronic Hepatitis C:

• Home STD Testing
  • Home HIV Tests
  • Home Chlamydia Tests
  • Home Hepatitis Tests
  • Home Herpes Tests
• more...»

Wrongly Diagnosed with Chronic Hepatitis C?

• Misdiagnosis of Chronic Hepatitis C
• Failure to diagnose Chronic Hepatitis C
• Hidden causes of Chronic Hepatitis C (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C: Related Patient Stories

• Hepatitis C question
• Sjogren's and Hepatitis C
• I Have Hepatitis C and a high GGT Test result and I do not drink
• Acute Hepatitis C
• Acupressure in Hepatitis C
• missdiagnosing hepatitis C
• Hepatitis C Survey
• Hepatitis c and liver disease
• hepatitis c treatment for my father
• hepatitis c and lost libido(impotence)
• Hepatitis C patient

Chronic Hepatitis C: Deaths

Read more about Deaths and Chronic Hepatitis C.

Diagnostic Tests for Chronic Hepatitis C

• Liver function test
• Anti-HCV antibody test
• Serum aminotransferase levels
• more tests...»

Read more about tests for Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Chronic Hepatitis C:

• Cirrhosis
• Chronic liver disease
• End-stage liver disease
• Liver cancer
• Mother-infant contagion (see Birth symptoms) - only about 5% of babies born to HCV mothers have HCV
• Cryoglobulinemia
• Glomerulonephritis
• more complications...»

Causes of Chronic Hepatitis C

Read more about causes of Chronic Hepatitis C.

More information about causes of Chronic Hepatitis C:

• Chronic Hepatitis C as a complication caused by other conditions

Disease Topics Related To Chronic Hepatitis C

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Chronic Hepatitis C:

• NANB hepatitis
• Acute hepatitis
• Hepatitis
• Virus infection
• Viral infection
• Virus
• more related diseases...»

Chronic Hepatitis C: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Chronic Digestive Disorders that can remain Undiagnosed:
  • Crohn's Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Ulcerative Colitis -- Undiagnosed
  • Celiac Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Heartburn -- Undiagnosed
  • GERD -- Undiagnosed
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome -- Undiagnosed
  • Carcinoid Syndrome -- Undiagnosed
  • Pancreatitis -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed. The best known, irritable bowel syndrome...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad"...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate"...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a...read more »

Chronic liver disease often undiagnosed: One study reported that 50% of patients with a chronic liver disease remain undiagnosed by their primary physician. The...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Digestive Health Specialists (Gastroenterology):
  • Gastroenterology (Digestive Specialists)
  • Pediatric Gastroenterology (Child Digestive Health)
• Liver Health Specialists (Hepatology):
  • Transplant Hepatology (Liver Transplant Specialist)
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Hospitals & Clinics: Chronic Hepatitis C

Research quality ratings and patient safety measures for medical facilities in specialties related to Chronic Hepatitis C:

• Digestive Health (Gastroenterology) -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• Urinary Health (Urology) -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• more hospital ratings...»

Hospital & Clinic quality ratings »

Choosing the Best Hospital: More general information, not necessarily in relation to Chronic Hepatitis C, on hospital performance and surgical care quality:

• 50 Best Hospitals Report
• Outstanding Patient Experience Award Winning Hospitals
• Women's Health Best Hospitals
• Patient Safety
• Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study (2009)

Chronic Hepatitis C: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Chronic Digestive Disorders -- Rare Types:
  • Crohn's Disease -- Rare Types
  • Ulcerative Colitis -- Rare Types
  • Celiac Disease -- Rare Types
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease -- Rare Types
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome -- Rare Types
  • Carcinoid Syndrome -- Rare Types
  • Pancreatitis -- Rare Types
  • Gallstones -- Rare Types
  • Lactose Intolerance -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Latest Treatments for Chronic Hepatitis C

• Liver transplantation
• Antiviral therapy
• Interferon alpha
• Lamivudine
• Adefovir
• more treatments...»

See full list of 6 latest treatments for Chronic Hepatitis C

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Chronic Hepatitis C

Medical research articles related to Chronic Hepatitis C include:

• Improved virologic response in chronic hepatitis C genotype 4 treated with nitazoxanide, peginterferon, and ribavirin
• Re-treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C who do not respond to peginterferon-alpha2b: a randomized trial.
• Pegylated interferon alpha-2a versus standard interferon alpha-2a for treatment-naive dialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C: a randomised study
• Probabilistic graphical model, Network-based medical tool for the prognosis of chronic hepatitis C patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin
• Phlebotomy improves therapeutic response to interferon in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a meta-analysis of six prospective randomized controlled trials
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Chronic Hepatitis C: Animations

More Chronic Hepatitis C animations & videos

Prognosis for Chronic Hepatitis C

More about prognosis of Chronic Hepatitis C

Research about Chronic Hepatitis C

Visit our research pages for current research about Chronic Hepatitis C treatments.

Clinical Trials for Chronic Hepatitis C

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Chronic Hepatitis C include:

• Thymosin Plus PEG-Interferon in Hepatitis C Patients With Cirrhosis Who Did Not Respond to Interferon or Interferon Plus Ribavirin - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - thymalfasin (thymosin alpha 1),PEGinterferon alfa-2a
• Thymosin Plus PEG-Interferon in Non-Cirrhotic Hepatitis C Patients Who Did Not Respond to Interferon or Interferon Plus Ribavirin - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - thymalfasin (thymosin alpha 1) + PEGinterferon alfa-2a,placebo + PEGinterferon alfa-2a
• Efficacy of Pegylated Interferon on Liver Fibrosis in Co-Infected Patient With HIV and Hepatitis C - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - peginterferon alfa 2-a
• Triple Therapy With Peg-Interferon Alfa-2b/Ribavirin Plus Amantadine Compared to Standard Peg-Interferon Alfa-2b/Ribavirin for Previous Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Non Responders - This study has been terminated (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - peg-interferon alfa-2b,ribavirin,amantadine
• Efficacy of Prazosin Versus Placebo Associated With Peg-Interferon Alpha 2b and Ribavirin in Chronic Hepatitis C With Genotype 1 or 4 and Severe Fibrosis - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Peg-interferon alpha 2b (drug),Ribavirin (drug),Prazosin (drug)
• more trials...»

See full list of 116 Clinical Trials for Chronic Hepatitis C

Prevention of Chronic Hepatitis C

Prevention information for Chronic Hepatitis C has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Chronic Hepatitis C.

• Avoid unprotected sex
• Avoid sharing drug needles
• Avoid unsanitary tattoo methods
• Avoid unsanitary body piercing methods
• Avoid needlestick injury
• more preventions...»

Read more about prevention of Chronic Hepatitis C

Statistics for Chronic Hepatitis C

• Medical statistics for Chronic Hepatitis C
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Chronic Hepatitis C
• Death and Mortality statistics for Chronic Hepatitis C
• Society statistics for Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C: Broader Related Topics

• Liver conditions
• Hepatitis
• Viral Hepatitis
• Hepatitis C
• more types...»

Types of Chronic Hepatitis C

Chronic Hepatitis C Message Boards

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Read about other experiences, ask a question about Chronic Hepatitis C, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

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