Hepatitis C is a virus that causes liver infection. It is the leading reason for liver transplants in adults in the United States. Most infected patients are exposed to the virus during blood transfusion with contaminated blood. Other risk factors for infection include intravenous drug use, having multiple sex partners and history of frequent blood transfusions.
Early Symptoms
Early on in the disease, patients usually have nonspecific symptoms. These include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and a general aches or tiredness. These mild symptoms can be mistaken with any flu-like illness. Patients in the acute phase of the illness may not exhibit any symptoms at all, which can lead to chronic hepatitis.
Symptoms
As the disease progresses, patients develop symptoms directly related to the inflammation in the liver. Jaundice, a yellowish coloration of the skin and the eyes caused by the liver's inability to eliminate bilirubin, can occur. The deposition of bilirubin in the skin can also make the patient feel itchy. Patients can have stomach pain or tenderness in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, which is where the liver is located.
Generalized Symptoms
Patient with hepatitis C infection can exhibit joint pain and swelling, rashes and thrombocytopenia (a sudden decrease in platelets, the blood cells that help in the clotting process). The urine can turn coffee-colored, as the excess bilirubin gets excreted by the kidneys. The stool can become clay-colored. Frequent vomiting can lead to dehydration and altered mental status.
Symptoms of Chronic Hepatitic C Disease
If the hepatitis becomes chronic, the patient will have persistent jaundice and fluid retention in the abdomen (a process called ascites) and then hepatic cirrhosis. Symptoms of cirrhosis include easy bruising, inability to clot blood and varicose veins (enlarged, fragile veins). The chronic liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis C virus renders the liver unable to get rid of all the molecular waste products of the body's metabolism. Eventually, the accumulation of ammonia, one of the metabolic waste products, can cause hepatic encephalopathy, with hallucinations, lethargy and occasionally coma.
