Considering the fact that most hepatitis C symptoms are unspecific, diagnosing the disease relying solely on patients? reports of symptoms can be very difficult. Furthermore, people with chronic or mild forms of the disease may actually have no hepatitis C symptoms at all in the incipient stages of the disease. Hepatitis C can be effectively diagnosed only after finding traces of HCV (hepatitis C virus) in the blood. Therefore, blood analyses are very important in revealing the presence of hepatitis C in patients. Liver biopsy is also an effective medical procedure that can indicate the presence of infection with HCV and the actual stage of the disease.

Hepatitis C involves infection of the liver and the disease has an incubation period of up to six months. Some hepatitis C symptoms occur after a few months from infection, while other hepatitis C symptoms may occur after more than a year, when the disease becomes chronic. Statistics indicate that there are around 150.000 new cases of hepatitis C in the United States each year, and many people are diagnosed with this type of liver disease long after they develop complications. Many people with undiscovered acute hepatitis develop chronic forms of the disease. Furthermore, people with undiscovered chronic hepatitis can in time develop cirrhosis and even end-stage liver disease. Hence, it is vital to timely spot the presence of hepatitis C in order to minimize the risks of aggravation. Hepatitis C medical treatments available today are most effective in overcoming uncomplicated forms of the disease, and therefore they should be prescribed in the incipient stages of hepatitis C.

In the early stages of the disease, hepatitis C symptoms are usually mild and resemble those of a cold or flu: fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, poor appetite and nausea. Mild or moderate fever may also occur in people with hepatitis C in the incipient stages of the disease. Recidivating pain in the region of the liver can suggest infection and enlargement of the organ, thus pointing to hepatitis C. Although people with this type of liver disease experience differentiated symptoms, fatigue and body weakness are common in all persons with hepatitis C. Therefore, pronounced, generalized fatigue is a common clinical hepatitis C symptom.

In the later stages of the disease, hepatitis C symptoms can become more intense, suggesting possible complications. Later hepatitis C symptoms are: yellowish aspect of the skin and mucosal membranes, yellowish aspect of the eyes (pointing to jaundice or icterus), light-colored feces and dark-colored urine. In more advanced stages of infection, people with the disease can have the following hepatitis C symptoms: enlarged liver, enlarged spleen, weight loss, pronounced body weakness, nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. Intolerance to alcohol is very suggestive to cirrhosis, which can occur on the premises of untreated hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a life-threatening disease and in time it can lead to serious complications. Although chronic forms of the disease are slow to develop, it is important to timely discover hepatitis C symptoms in order to begin administering an appropriate medical treatment, thus preventing the aggravation of the disease.