Hepatitis Medical Reference

Can moms who have this viral infection nurse their babies? Here are the facts and things to keep in mind to protect your baby’s health.

To deal with health problems from hepatitis C, your doctor can measure the amount of fibrosis in your liver. This measurement is called a fibrosis score. Find out how it’s created.

After you first get hepatitis C, you may not feel any symptoms. During this early phase, tests also may not pick up signs of the virus at first.

If you have the hepatitis C virus in your blood for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, you have “acute” hep C. After 6 months, it’s called “chronic.”

Some of the most effective hepatitis C drugs come with a hefty price tag. And insurance doesn’t always cover them. Learn how you can lower out-of-pocket expenses for your hep C treatments.

The APRI score helps detect liver fibrosis for people with liver disease. Find out more about what it is, how it’s calculated, and why doctors use it instead of biopsies.

Scientists call the different types of hepatitis c “genotypes.” Each hepatitis C genotype has a different type of genetic makeup that helps define it. Learn more.

Ledipasvir-sofosbuvir (Harvoni) is one of the most effective treatments for hepatitis C. Learn about how the drug works, who can take it, its risks, side effects, cost, and more.

Sustained virologic response (SVR) means that 12 weeks or more after you stop treatment for hepatitis C, tests can’t find the virus in your blood. Learn more about SVR and hepatitis C.

Find out more about the GGT test. Doctors use this test to help diagnose issues with your liver, like cancer and hepatitis.

If you want to become a living liver donor, you've made a choice that may save someone's life. But your decision to help is just the first step. The process for approval by a transplant center includes a physical exam, medical tests, mental health checks, and a lot more.

Your liver is the largest internal organ in your body -- and has a bunch of important jobs to do. Find out how it filters out toxins, helps break down the food you eat, and builds proteins that keep your body in good repair.

When your liver isn't working the way it should, it affects your body in a big way. Find out about diseases that cause liver failure, and when it may be time to consider a liver transplant.

If you want to donate part of your liver to someone who needs a transplant, the two of you must be a good match. To make sure surgery goes well for both of you, doctors look at things like blood type, body size, and age.

Find out how living donors benefit those in need of a liver transplant, from shorter recovery time to higher success rate and more.

Your HCV viral load test tells you how much hepatitis C virus is in your blood. The load count will help your doctor decide on the best treatment, and measure how well it works.

Liver disease (hepatic disease) is any disease that negatively affects the normal, healthy performance of the liver. Learn more about types of liver problems and their causes at WebMD.

Learn about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment for this severe form of hepatitis that you can only get if you have hepatitis B.

False results for hepatitis C screening tests happen more often than you might think. Learn what false positive or false negative tests mean, and what to do about them.

Some people turn to complementary treatments to help relieve symptoms or because their current medicine isn't working for them. Find out whether herbal supplements could help or hurt.

You may have heard stories about hepatitis C and wonder if they're true. Here are some common myths about the virus that may show you it's not as scary as you might have thought.

Hepatitis C can be mild or serious, lasting a few weeks or a lifetime. Learn more about the paths the condition can take.

You might think that hepatitis C only happens in adults, but children get the liver disease, too. Find out how kids can get it, the ways doctors diagnose the disease, and what kind of medicine treats it.

Hepatitis C affects women differently than men. See how the virus and treatments affect sexual health, pregnancy, breastfeeding, birth control choices, and menopause choices.

Milk thistle, also known as silymarin, has been used for hundreds of years as an herbal remedy for liver problems. What is it? And can it really help your liver?