What does Hep C do?
How will it affect my body, are there symptoms?
Hepatitis C mainly affects the liver. Indeed, the word 'hepatitis'
means inflammation, or swelling of the liver. When a liver becomes
inflamed, it can become damaged and eventually have difficulty
carrying out its various and vital functions. Over a long period of
time, this can progress to serious liver damage
(such as cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis) or liver cancer in
some people.
Symptoms
Hepatitis C affects everybody differently. Many people don't
have any symptoms at all for the first 10-15 years, some for as
many as 30 years. Others feel tired, depressed and have muscular
and joint aches. Digestive, skin and memory problems have also been
reported as well as symptoms relating to the eyes and the
thyroid.
Symptoms are not related to how badly damaged the liver is. In
other words, you can't tell the state of your liver by the state of
your health.