***Hepatitis C: The Serious Liver Disorder

According to Thelma King Thiel; "The Liver Lady" and CEO of the Hepatitis Foundation International; "the liver is a non complaining organ." This does not sound profound when you first read it, but it is really a very keen observation, because you would never know if you have a dangerous condition like Hepatitis C (HCV). Any other organ will give us pain right away when it is in trouble; like the heart, the stomach, the brain all give us dramatic signs of pain when trouble is present. We can all relate to heart ache, head ache and stomach ache these are things that most of us have experienced, but according to the Centers for Disease control over 7 million people are infected in the United States with HCV and over half of them don't even know they have it; they have no idea its just a matter of time before they are in serious trouble.

Since the liver is involved in so many different functions - over 500 during any given day, it remains one of our most important vital organs. Just balancing blood chemistry alone keeps the heart and brain functioning properly. Even if the liver experiences any problems like with the Hepatitis virus and our immunity destroys the liver cells, it usually keeps blood chemistry balanced first to keep all other vital organs working properly and the person will not even be aware what is really going on. Most of the time if one feels no pain, everything is normal.

Because the liver is such a large organ with so many functions, multi-tasking becomes the norm. Its role is always to make sure all the minerals, proteins and sugars are present in the blood in the right balance to keep the whole body functionality in check. Therefore you may never know for a long time that the liver itself is having any problems like Hepatitis C unless you know what to look for. Liver dangers will show up in different ways but you will not specifically feel it as pain or in the organ itself and one of the first indicators of poor liver function are skin problems.

The skin like the liver; is one of our main detoxification organs. When your liver gets over loaded with too many toxins, these toxins spill over into the blood stream and the skin and the lymphatic system has to take these out when they start showing up on the skin as blemishes or problem areas. These conditions are usually treated topically with salves or skin creams, however these discolorations and rashes may persist unless there is proper internal maintenance and detoxification.

Exercise and extra consumption of water really helps on an immediate basis and the skin will improve in appearance but there is still a major problem; the liver is storing these toxins and it will expand its capacity and size to accommodate the extra load. Because it grows in size less and less room is available in the abdominal cavity, digestion is compromised as we get older and we may suffer from heart burn or acid reflux. This is the normal aging process, however serious problems will begin to occur at a much more rapid rate when the Hepatitis C virus is present.

Hepatitis C virus is the one strain of Hepatitis virus that will proliferate when we age as our immunity strength goes down. To fight HCV the body's immunity response will eat the hepatitic cells, basically consuming the nucleus and cytoplasm and leaving the cell wall which results in scarring or dead tissue. As each cell is consumed the virus remains and the next cells get targeted until the liver is all scar tissue and death soon occurs. As our immunity strength goes down with age and unhealthy lifestyle choices like drinking alcohol or both; the liver is unable to fight off hepatitis fast enough. The winner of this mad race for dominance - the HCV or your immunity response is the determining factor for recovery or death with this insidious disease.

So remember the liver is a non complaining organ and as you age know it is getting larger to handle toxins we pick up over the decades. Unfortunately, Hepatitis is the world's biggest viral problem and over 300 million people suffer from Hepatitis C and when we pick this virus up our bodies will consume our liver cells to fight the virus and all that is left is scar tissue, HCV and toxins. Don't let this happen to you! Take care of your liver, drink plenty of water, exercise and get annual check ups with your doctor with a HCV antibody blood test to make sure you do not have Hepatitis C. Remember it is called the liver because it helps us live. Let's help the liver in return, you will be glad you did.