How to Treat Hepatitis C and Prevent Liver Damage

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Hepatitis C is a virus that affects your liver. Usually, it's contracted by blood to blood transmission, usually by intravenous drug use; tattoos, especially if those needles aren't sterile; and/ or blood transfusions before we even knew the virus existed, so blood transfusions that were received before 1992, when Hep C wasn't screened in blood donors. Unfortunately it is a virus that can lay dormant in your liver without the patient knowing that they have the virus.

The United States preventative task force recommended that baby boomers born from 1945 to 1965 get screened for Hepatitis C, as there are new treatment regimens that have developed over the past 2 years that are interferon free. Interferon is an injectable that has many side effects including flu like symptoms, anemia, low platelets. A lot of patients can not tolerate the regimen. Now there are oral medications that one can take once or twice a day, that help eliminate the virus, and thus prevent the progression of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.