Hepatitis C Blood Test-7 things to know about test
General, Tests & Procedures

Top 7 Things to Know about Hepatitis C Blood Test

One of the most important organs in your body is your liver. Being the largest internal organ, it plays a pivotal role in keeping you healthy. Taking care of your liver has to be an utmost priority. There are various diseases which can disrupt the functioning of your liver. One of the most dangerous is Hepatitis C. It is also one of the most common liver diseases. There are times when no symptoms show up when you come in contact with this disease. This is what makes it more dangerous. You should undergo the hepatitis C blood test to identify the disease.

The common symptoms that show up when you suffer from hepatitis C are Jaundice and stomach pain. In jaundice, you would witness the colour of skin and eyes going yellow. Other symptoms that show up are stomach pain, fatigue, nausea and loss of appetite. The disease can spread through blood or body fluids. It can be passed to the child through the mother. There are chances that you can get chronic hepatitis if it is not treated. Some of the conditions have worsened to the extent that it led to scarring of the liver. Some people also contracted liver cancer.

  1. Can Hepatitis C be Found in Routine Blood Tests?

    As mentioned ahead, Hepatitis C symptoms may not show up in most of the cases. This is what makes the disease difficult to diagnose. When it comes to routine blood tests, there is the lesser chance of finding the virus. So we can conclude that normal blood tests are incapable of discovering Hepatitis C virus. To find out the disease, you should undergo hepatitis C blood test which is a complex and thorough examination of your blood. This blood test is done by a specialist, and it is advised that you should visit a liver expert in such case.

  2. How long does it take for Hepatitis C to show up in a Blood Test?

    There are times when the virus can go unnoticed in blood tests. A thorough hepatitis C blood test can help in detecting the virus. Experts suggest that when a person comes in contact with Hepatitis C virus, it takes about one to two weeks for a virus to show up. This means that if you run the hepatitis C blood test within two weeks, then the results would show up. The antibodies appear after RNA can be detected, which can take a period of three to twelve weeks overall.

  3. How long can a Person live after being Diagnosed with Hepatitis C?

    When it comes to life expectancy, the type of virus plays an important role. Many of the patients are not aware of the disease in the first place. It is said that about 20% of people come in contact with a type of Hepatitis C virus which automatically clears out. This suggests that some type of viruses is not life-threatening. While this being said, the other 80% of cases can be complex and result variedly. It is said that the remaining cases come in contact with chronic hepatitis C virus. The virus would show up in hepatitis C blood test. The chronic disease can lead to liver cancer or liver cirrhosis in many cases. The life expectancy of these people is determined by the factor of liver damage. The lesser the damage is, the more the chances are. Thus we come up with the conclusion that the chances of surviving a hepatitis C disease depend upon the type of virus as well as the condition and damage done to the liver. Most of the cases are chronic which is treated through the liver transplant.

  4. Can Hepatitis C Sexually Transmit?

    There are cases when people who went under hepatitis C blood test mentioned that they came in contact with the disease after sexual intercourse. To be clear, Hepatitis C virus can be spread through body fluids. Blood is one of the most common carriers of the hepatitis c virus. But there are also cases when sexual intercourse has been the reason behind the spread of Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C can be transmitted if you have more than one sexual partner. The risk goes up in this case. If you indulge in rough sex which leads to bleeding, it can be a reason behind it.

  5. Who should get a Hepatitis C Blood Test?

    When it comes to hepatitis C blood test, you should be observant of it. It is mentioned that a normal test cannot pick up the hepatitis C virus. There is a specific hepatitis C blood test which is responsible for catching up with the hepatitis C virus. Most of the patients do not realize that they are suffering from hepatitis C until they suffer from liver cirrhosis. The case can turn complex by that time. You should consult a liver specialist if you have doubts in your mind.

  6. Treatments and Success of Hepatitis C

    In the modern era, Hepatitis C cases have been dealt with a lot of precision. This has led to a huge rate of success in most cases. It is said that the treatment option has cured almost 90% of the cases which is indeed a significant number. Medically approved drugs are being used to treat Hepatitis C virus when it shows up in hepatitis C blood test. The treatment is not painful. In severe cases, the liver transplant can be an option for treatment as the liver is completely damaged.

Conclusion

Following Points can be Concluded after Going through above-mentioned Information:

  • Hepatitis C virus doesn’t show up in normal blood tests.
  • Hepatitis C virus can show symptoms like jaundice, stomach pain, nausea, and fatigue.
  • Hepatitis C virus is transmitted through body fluids; hence it can be transmitted sexually.
  • Chronic Hepatitis C virus can lead to liver cancer or cirrhosis.
  • Hepatitis C virus can be cured with medically approved drugs.

After going through the above-mentioned points, it is clear that a person must go through hepatitis C blood test to detect the virus present. It can be cured after hepatitis C blood test with proper medicines.

Medically Reviewed By
Dr. Kaushal M. Bhavsar (MBBS, MD)Assistant Professor in Pulmonary Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Ahmedabad