hep c....

ok i just found out someone close to me has hepatitis c. this is more of a discuss topic,I know nothing about this disease although i do know she suffers from addiction, Am i to assume she got these from sharing needles? Can i get it from being around her or should i take more precautions because i am preggo? i just have no idea about this subject, and last of all is she going to die from this?
thanks ahead for all of the helpful advise... i really need it!

you wont get it from just being around her. If you share needles u can. And i think you can get it from unprotected sex. thats how pamela anderson got it from tommy lee. Anywho i wouldnt worry unless shes gonna give you a tattoo, or you are having sex or sharing herion needles

The Grandma of my first 2 has Hep C... We think she got it from needles... She is not a user anymore though. She actually has a rare form of it that can be cured (from what I understand) but she is having to go through chemo and all sorts of stuff for it. Just being around her, you are not going to catch it. If she falls on the sidewalk and cracks her head open, don't touch her blood. I don't know if you contract it other than by blood...

Quoting annaber:“ you wont get it from just being around her. If you share needles u can. And i think you can get it from ... [snip!] ... it from tommy lee. Anywho i wouldnt worry unless shes gonna give you a tattoo, or you are having sex or sharing herion needles”

<--- lucky
I had a dirtbag boyfriend a few years ago who I had unprotected sex with several times, and then I find out he had Hep C.
I was tested, and I'm negative  
It's easily transmitted blood-to-blood.

I was just researching this last week. My uncle was diagnosed with Hep C. We definately think it's from his crack abuse.

Wikipedia says the main way it istransmitted is blood-to-blood contact. Although you can get it sexually, that is rare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_c

Quoting KSmith515:“ I was just researching this last week. My uncle was diagnosed with Hep C. We definately think it's from ... [snip!] ... is blood-to-blood contact. Although you can get it sexually, that is rare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_c”

thank you

Hep C in treatable and about half of patients can be cured
http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/news/20040518/new-drugs-show-promise-in-hepatitis-c-fight
interferon helps cure HCV1
http://www.medicinenet.com/interferon/article.htm

Quoting MsBananahmmk*LipstickMafi:“ Hep C in treatable and about half of patients can be cured http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/news/2004 ... [snip!] ... interferon helps cure HCV1 http://www.medicinenet.com/interferon/article.htm”

i cant believe you are mafia now

My fiances father has Hep C. Heis a huge junkie and a meth head plus he's an over the road truck driver who lovvvveeessss hookers so I don't know exactley how he got it but I won't let him near me anyways. Not because of the Hep C, because he's a stupid A-hole. Just use your common sense and I'm sure you'll be fine  

Quoting apodacamaria(ODRFAB):“ ok i just found out someone close to me has hepatitis c. this is more of a discuss topic,I know nothing ... [snip!] ... this subject, and last of all is she going to die from this? thanks ahead for all of the helpful advise... i really need it!”

It usually spreads through contact with infected blood. It can also spread through sex with an infected person and from mother to baby during childbirth.
Most people who are infected with hepatitis C don't have any symptoms for years. A blood test can tell if you have it. Unlike some other forms of hepatitis, hepatitis C does not get better by itself. The infection can last a lifetime and may lead to liver cancer. Medicines sometimes help, but side effects can be a problem.

It can be spread through blood or bodily fluids, including and especially urine or excrements. It's most commonly spread through the sharing of needles. Hep C is pretty difficult to catch sexually, unless one or both of you has some sort of open cut or sore on your genitals. My fiancee is an ex-addict and he has been hep C positive for around ten years now. I'm pregnant with his child and still testing negative, and we've had unprotected sex several times (although not since becoming pregnant, mind you).

From what I understand from talking to him about it, it's can cause you to be quite achey all over, worn out and tired. Obviously as it progresses or gets out of control it can cause liver disease and ultimately liver failure and a transplant is needed.

Make sure your friend isn't consuming alcohol! Alcohol expedites the whole process!

Hep C is spread by blood to blood contact. So if you have a cut and some infected blood gets into that cut then you 'may' contract it. Also if infected blood crosses the 'mucus membraine' like the eyes you can also contract it.

As for sex - hep C can not be transfered through sexual fluids. It was originally thoughtit could bebutits not the fluids that carry the virus its small bits of blood in the fluids (Hep B is caught through sexual fluids though).So the only way to contrat it through sex is if you both have a cut on your privates. This is why homosexual men contract it more easier than straight males as it is easier for the anus and the penis to tear or get cut during anal.

the main way its contracted is through needles and sharing equipment like spoons, swabs, needles, using a dirty needle and so forth. but this does not mean that everyone who has it is a junkie.

you can also get it by sharing tooth brushes, nail clippers, razors and shavors. anything that has a high potential to cut the shin. many teen girls spread it around by sharing nail clippers and nail files and razors

Very rare cases it crosses the placenta to the unborn child. This is more likely to happen if a person become infected in the 3rd trimester.This is due to the mothers immune system is suppressed and the first 6 months is the most the virus wil replicate its self. (this is called a viral load)....... It is more likely a mother can pass it to the child during child birth due to the chances of the child being cut and the mother having a cut. but even that does not guarantee transmitiion. It is just a higher chance of it occuring.

So basically with your friend you can still be friends and still have normal contact. Just not sharing anything that could have blood on it. To be perfectly honest 1 in 4 young people (25 and under) in America have at least one STD. Its a new study that has just came out in the last couple of months. So it is very likely that 1 in 4 of your friends and people you know have something.

As long as a person with Hep C looks after themself they can live a long and happy life and live the same amount of time they would have without the disease. So they eat right exercise and most importantly do not drink.

Hep C attacks the liver and slowely breaks it down so this is why you shouldnt drink when you have it. It eventually keeps on poisioning the liver and some people end up with cerosis of the liver (scaring of the liver - a form of cancer). which then they need a liver transplant or they will die.

however a lot of people who have Hep C also have another STD and its very common for a person to have Hep C and HIV or Hep B and HIV.

As for treatment about 1/2 of people infected have the 'strand' that does respons to treatment and about 1/2 of these people (so 1/4 of people infected with it) can be cured (no viral load left in body) .. however treatment is very very harsh and its basically like chemo theraphy and is also very expensive so because as long as you look after yourself you can live a normal and happy life most people chose not to have treatment

so basically still be friends with your friend if anything she needs you now more than ever - but just be careful and not share anything that could have blood on it.

I have known heaps of people who have Hep C and i am a young parent educator and diseases is one thing that we teach the young parents about

Quoting Andrea...:“ Hep C is spread by blood to blood contact. So if you have a cut and some infected blood gets into that ... [snip!] ... heaps of people who have Hep C and i am a young parent educator and diseases is one thing that we teach the young parents about”

Yikes! Scary statistics!

Nm I just read the posts above me which explains it lol.

Btw I guess one of my cousins got it after getting a blood transfusion after being in a car accident   that scares me.


edited