Hepatitis: what does it mean?
Having hepatitis means that your liver has become inflamed. Hepatitis can be caused by a number of things including:
There are a number of viruses that infect the liver. The best known are hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. The ways in which they are spread, how they cause liver damage and the effects they can have on your health, are different. (Only hepatitis B, C and D cause chronic disease).
What is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C, sometimes called hep C or HCV, is a virus that is carried in the blood which infects and damages the liver.
A virus is a tiny particle that needs to infect and control the cells of your body in order to live and reproduce. The hepatitis C virus infects the cells in your liver, causing inflammation (swelling and tenderness) and fibrosis. In people with chronic (long-term) hepatitis C infection, inflammation and fibrosis continue to spread. Over time, usually many years, this can lead to cirrhosis.
What happens if I'm infected with hepatitis C?
People react differently to the hepatitis C virus. As the hepatitis C virus can take many years to make itself known, you could be living with it for many years without realising it. The hepatitis C virus disappears in one in four people with no lasting damage. However, up to one in three people with the virus are likely to develop cirrhosis – a serious liver disease – within 20 to 30 years. Other people will live with mild liver problems.