Roughly four million people in the United States suffer from a liver disease known as Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is actually a liver infection that can do serious damage to the liver if not caught and treated in a timely manner. One of the difficulties that comes with diagnosing Hepatitis C is that it does not present itself with distinct and specific symptoms, so the infected person often will not recognize that they are infected until they get a blood test. Hepatitis C is an infection that transports itself through the fluid and blood stream. It is what is known as a blood-to-blood disease, meaning that it can only be transmitted from one person to another via blood-to-blood contact.

From first exposure to the disease there is an incubation period that can last anywhere from 14 to 80 days. This is the period that disease is gestating in the blood stream until the “start” of the disease.

When symptoms are present, they tend to show themselves in dark urine, fever, fatigue, Jaundice, joint pain, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and loss of appetite. In more extreme cases there could also be fluid buildup in the abdomen, gallstones, kidney failure itching, muscle loss, spider veins, and weight loss.