Specialists advise people over 50 get tested for Hep C

January 28, 2015  23:49

Specialists found that three-quarters of all hepatitis C cases in the U.S. are in Americans born between 1945 and 1964. What’s more, 75 percent of the people who have Hep C don’t even know it because it typically has no symptoms and is often missed in standard blood tests.

 People, born especially during these years, have to be tested for detecting the virus and treating, said Ilan S. Weisberg, M.D., director of hepatology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City in an interview on Newsmax TV.

The specialist say, the main target for Hepatitis C is the liver and it is actually the leading cause of all chronic liver disease in the United States. More ever, Hepatitis C is the No. 1 reason for liver transplantation and No. 1 risk factor for developing liver cancer in the country.

Weisberg thinks that about 20-30 percent of all people with Hep C will actually develop cirrhosis of the liver, which can take 20 years to 30 years to occur. However, during those years  the infection is completely asymptomatic, so patients rarely know about  the infection earlier. But once cirrhosis develops it increases the odds that a patient will develop liver cancer

“It’s actually incredible but most people whom I have met, newly diagnosed with hepatitis C, they come to me scratching their heads saying ‘I’ve gone to the doctor for the last 15 years and it’s never shown up in my blood, how is this possible?' '' he notes.

That is why, the specialist advises to get tested for Hep C, which can be spread through blood transfusions, I.V. drug needs, tattoos, and sexual activity. He also notes that the latest treatment takes about 12 weeks and has a cure rate of up to 95 percent. However, the most important thing in this case is to get tested on time.

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