What are the treatments for What I need to know about Hepatitis C ?
Hepatitis C is usually not treated unless it becomes chronic. Chronic hepatitis C is treated with medicines that slow or stop the virus from damaging the liver. Your doctor will closely watch your symptoms and schedule regular blood tests to make sure the treatment is working.
                
Medicines for Chronic Hepatitis C
                
Chronic hepatitis C is most often treated with a medicine combination that attacks the hepatitis C virus. Treatment may last from 24 to 48 weeks.
                
Today, newer treatments with medicine for chronic hepatitis C are appearing quickly. Talk with your doctor if you have questions about treatment.
                
Talk with your doctor before taking other prescription medicines and over-the-counter medicines.
                

                
Liver Transplant
                
A liver transplant may be necessary if chronic hepatitis C causes severe liver damage that leads to liver failure. Symptoms of severe liver damage include the symptoms of hepatitis C and
                
- generalized itching  - a longer than usual amount of time for bleeding to stop  - easy bruising  - swollen stomach or ankles  - spiderlike blood vessels, called spider angiomas, that develop on the skin
                
Liver transplant is surgery to remove a diseased or injured liver and replace it with a healthy one from another person, called a donor. If your doctors tell you that you need a transplant, you should talk with them about the long-term demands of living with a liver transplant.
                
A team of surgeonsdoctors who specialize in surgeryperforms a liver transplant in a hospital. You will learn how to take care of yourself after you go home and about the medicines youll need to take to protect your new liver. You will continue to take medicines because hepatitis C may come back after surgery.
                
Testing for Liver Cancer
                
Having hepatitis C increases your risk for liver cancer, so your doctor may suggest an ultrasound test of the liver every 6 to 12 months. Finding cancer early makes it more treatable. Ultrasound is a machine that uses sound waves to create a picture of your liver. Ultrasound is performed at a hospital or radiology center by a specially trained technician. The image, called a sonogram, can show the livers size and the presence of cancerous tumors.