Hepatitis C

• It is estimated that 270 to 300 million people have hepatitis C (hep-C), an infectious viral disease that affects the liver. The preliminary stages of the disease are often asymptomatic, and some cases of hep-C even resolve on their own. However, if the disease does progress, it may result in liver damage. Some hep-C patients even develop severe scarring and cirrhosis, which may result in liver failure, cancer or even death. Hepatitis C can be treated; however, there is no vaccine for the virus.
  
  

Symptoms

• Those that do suffer from a progression of hepatitis C may only suffer from mild symptoms, even though, left untreated, the disease may be doing extensive damage to their liver. These symptoms include dark urine, jaundice, fatigue, itching, flu-like symptoms, difficulty sleeping, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, depression and nausea.
  
  When decreased appetite and nausea combine with other taxing symptoms of advanced hepatitis C, patients often stop consuming adequate amounts of food due to lack of desire to eat and a general feeling of malaise. This often results in significant, sometimes alarming weight loss, which is another, secondary, symptom of hep-C.
  
  

Medication

• Loss of appetite may not only be a symptom of hepatitis C itself, but of the medication prescribed to manage the disease.
  
  Persistent hepatitis infections are most often treated with the drugs peginterferon (interpheron alpha) and ribavirin, as well as other symptom-management drugs. The side effects of these drugs often exacerbate and compound the symptoms of hep-c, especially those that interfere with appetite.
  
  Hep-c patients who take these drugs often lose a significant amount of weight because the medication, as well as the virus, are making them feel nauseous, uninterested in eating and cause them to vomit. Also, they may find that the food they do eat tastes different, or that the medication causes a bitter or metallic taste in their mouths. As a result, eating becomes an undesirable experience, and they lose weight.
  
  

Management

• It is important for hepatitis C sufferers to consume a healthy diet with an adequate amount of calories. Loss of appetite can lead to significant weight loss, malnutrition and, consequently, the lowering of immunity, which impairs the body's ability to protect the liver and makes it easier to get an infection.
  
  Therefore, hep-c patients are encouraged to eat several small meals a day to make sure they ingest the proper amount of healthy food despite their discomfort. If patients find that their symptoms interfere with their ability to eat (for instance, persistent nausea or vomiting), they should speak to their doctor about changing their medication or prescribing additional medication to combat nausea.