The video explains what Hepatitis C is. Transmission methods, Symptoms and Complications. Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention. ****** NOTES ON COMMENTS: since we cannot constantly monitor user comments and guarantee a response to each of them, we have chosen to disable comments. In fact, from experience, unmoderated comments often become a means of spreading false information and messages with commercial purposes. We do not want our videos to lend themselves to this purpose. For criticisms, appreciations, questions and observations you can still write in our forum http://community.my-personaltrainer.it/ or search for information in the dedicated articles on the site www.my-personaltrainer.it ****** Let's get to know hepatitis C better, considered one of the most serious infectious diseases affecting the liver. During the lesson we will try to understand together the reason for this statement. The virus responsible for hepatitis C (also called HCV, from the English Human Hepatitis C virus) is transmitted mainly through the blood of an infected person. Once inside the body, this virus attacks the liver, causing inflammation. Hepatitis C can manifest itself as acute hepatitis, but in most patients it is asymptomatic or manifests itself with mild and non-specific symptoms, simulating a passing flu. Despite this apparently reassuring aspect, in a large percentage of cases, estimated up to 85%, hepatitis C continues to gradually undermine the health of the liver. This means that the infection can go unnoticed and the virus can persist in the liver, continuing to seriously damage it to the point of requiring an organ transplant in the most extreme cases. Not only that. In addition to evolving into a long-term pathology, chronic hepatitis C, after many years, can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus, as we have just seen, is transmitted mainly through the blood of an infected person. Bloodborne contagion can therefore be facilitated by sharing syringes for intravenous drug inoculation, but also by using medical or aesthetic instruments that are not adequately sterilized. Until the 1990s, blood transfusions were the main risk factor for the spread of the pathogen. However, after the introduction of mandatory blood screening, the incidence rate of hepatitis C associated with transfusions has almost disappeared. Transmission of the infection through unprotected sexual intercourse is rare, but still possible. Intercourse between homosexual men, especially if HIV-positive, is more at risk. As with many other sexually transmitted diseases, in fact, the risk of contagion increases if there is exposure to blood, such as during vigorous sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, fisting or sex during the menstrual cycle. Finally, hepatitis C can be transmitted vertically, that is, from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy or childbirth. Hepatitis C has a fairly long incubation period; on average it is 5-10 weeks, with an interval varying from 2 weeks to 6 months. As mentioned in the previous slide, most people with hepatitis C do not experience any symptoms or have vague and nonspecific manifestations, which are therefore easily confused with those of other diseases. In fact, many people do not realize they have contracted hepatitis C, at least until, years or even decades after the infection, significant damage to the liver emerges. Let us remember, in fact, that the greatest risk associated with hepatitis C is precisely the chronicization of the disease. In other individuals, during the early stages of hepatitis, generalized malaise, weakness, fever, vague abdominal discomfort, nausea, loss of appetite, muscle pain and, sometimes, joint pain occur. In some cases, jaundice appears, which we remember is the yellowish coloration of the skin and whites of the eyes. In the acute phase, a fulminant and fatal course is observed very rarely. According to medical statistics, approximately 20-30% of people with acute hepatitis C recover completely. However, we have repeatedly highlighted how the most frequent and feared complication is the chronicization of the infection. In the initial phases, even for many years, chronic hepatitis C is often associated with nonspecific symptoms, among which a state of fatigue and persistent malaise stand out. Continue on: http://www.my-personaltrainer.it/Tv/D...