Why is important to schedule for hepatitis c testing
Posted by adairsawyer on September 28th, 2013
Hepatitis is a disease that affects the liver, causing it to stop fulfilling its tasks properly. Depending on which type of virus has been contacted, there are different kinds of this disease: hepatitis B and hepatitis C are the most common ones. The disease can easily be contacted from an infected person through internal fluids and sometimes it can be difficult to determine the presence of the virus because hepatitis can be asymptomatic in the beginning. This is the reason why medical investigations, such as hepatitis B testing and hepatitis C testing are required if you have any suspicion of contacting the virus.
Your liver is a part of the body that you should never neglect. Located in the upper-right side of your abdominal cavity, this organ is a good pillar for digestion, it removes toxic substances from your body and it plays a fundamental role in the overall metabolism of your organism. In fact all the blood that is leaving the stomach passes through this organ. The liver basically contains about 13% of the blood existing in our organism at a certain moment. And if that is not enough, it can become even more important if you think about the fact that there is no available method to replace this essential organ and its functions on the long term.
Among other diseases that can affect the liver, hepatitis is one of the most common and easy to contact. It is characterized by the inflammation of the liver that causes it to stop functioning properly. Hepatitis is basically transmitted through s exual contact or by any other means involving direct contact with fluids from an infected person. Hepatitis C is more likely to occur on blood to blood contact for instance, unlike hepatitis B, which can be contacted through other means too, such as: saliva, tears, sweat, semen and so on. They both can be cured and kept under control if they are detected in an early stage. However, when left untreated, chronic hepatitis can even lead to cancer or cirrhosis.
The only way to determine if you are infected or not before it is too late is to get tested. There are many medical laboratories that provide hepatitis b testing or hepatitis c testing so there must be one or you too. The procedures are similar for both tests and they basically consist of examining a blood sample to determine the presence or absence of the virus. Hepatitis B testing is extremely important if you have had unprotected s ex or you have any suspicion of contacting the disease. Hepatitis C however is strongly connected to drug use or inappropriate use of medical equipment. You can get tested for one or for both if you want. The results will arrive in a few days and, in case of positive results, you will need to undergo other procedures and potential retesting to establish the stage of the disease.
If you make the decision of having a chlamidia testing, no preparation is needed and you can get tested on the spot. The same goes for hepatitis c testing and they both require a blood sample.
