Hepatitis C is one of the most common liver diseases in humans. It can be diagnosed in a timely manner. Accordingly, the speed and effectiveness of treatment will depend on this. Next, we will tell you how to properly take an analysis for hepatitis C. A transcript of certain studies will also be offered to our attention. What kind of tests need to be passed? What deviations can be observed in a person with hepatitis C? All this will be described later. In reality, everything is much more difficult than it seems.
About the disease
Hepatitis C is a fairly common disease. It appears due to infection of a person with the corresponding hepatitis virus. It is transmitted mainly when blood enters the body of a healthy citizen.
There are two forms of the disease - chronic and acute. Usually, with the second type of disease, the patient does not have any manifestations of the disease. Only occasionally there is an icteric skin tone, nausea, vomiting, discoloration of feces and urine, loss of appetite, increased fatigue and abdominal pain.
In order to accurately diagnose the disease in the early stages, it is necessary to pass an analysis for hepatitis C. The interpretation of this study will be proposed later. First you will have to find out what diagnostic methods will be used.
Test List
In fact, there are a lot of them. A sick person will have to pass a huge number of tests. Fortunately, almost all of them boil down to venous blood testing. Therefore, most tests will be able to pass in one go.
So, among the main methods for diagnosing hepatitis C, the following studies are distinguished:
- general blood analysis;
- general urine analysis;
- blood biochemistry;
- PCR;
- detection of antibodies to HVC;
- blood test for liver antibodies;
- liver biopsy.
In practice, most often the first 5 analyzes are always done. But research on liver antibodies and biopsies are extremely rare. They are often required not to confirm the diagnosis, but for proper treatment and finding the cause of the disease. Next will be described in more detail about each method.
When to do
But first you need to understand in what cases you need to do an analysis for hepatitis C. Deciphering all the results obtained should be carried out only by an experienced doctor. Otherwise, you can make a mistake in the testimony. For some categories of citizens, such errors are not allowed.
To be tested for hepatitis C should:
- pregnancy planning couples;
- pregnant women;
- people who have suspicions (symptoms) of the disease;
- organ / blood donors;
- drug addicts;
- people with HIV disease;
- promiscuous citizens;
- medical workers;
- employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Other people pass this analysis at will. It is recommended that you check your health once a year. This technique will help to diagnose the disease in time, if it appears.
About preparation
Want to get tested for hepatitis C? Deciphering this study is actually not so difficult. But a lot depends on what kind of analysis will be surrendered.
For each diagnostic method, you need to properly prepare. Fortunately, the analysis for hepatitis C has no features. When it comes to donating blood, you just need to do it on an empty stomach. You will not have to eat for about 8-10 hours.
When passing urine, it is recommended several days before the collection of biological material to abandon fatty and fried foods and bad habits. You will need to bring the first morning urine to the laboratory. It is she who is the most informative. Preparation for research has no more features.
General analyzes
Now a little about each type of analysis and its decoding. What should alert a person in a particular case? It is advisable not to engage in self-medication and self-diagnosis. As already mentioned, experienced doctors will be able to quickly determine the presence of hepatitis C in a patient. But on what grounds?
Let's start with general blood and urine tests. As noted earlier, the color of urine changes. It is getting dark. What other changes might be noticeable?
To do this, you need to study the results of the studies. With hepatitis C, the following changes are observed (mainly in a blood test):
- components such as hemoglobin, white blood cells and platelets are reduced;
- lymphocytes rise;
- blood clotting disorder is observed;
- ESR increases.
Urobelin can also be detected in urine. This substance indicates the presence of abnormalities in the liver. And nothing more.
Blood biochemistry
How to detect hepatitis C markers? Deciphering the tests will help to understand whether a person has this disease. After general research, it is necessary to donate blood for biochemistry. This is an advanced diagnostic method for most diseases.
With hepatitis C, the following changes are observed:
- liver enzymes increase (ALT and AST);
- alkaline phosphatase glutamyl transpeptidase levels increase;
- bilirubin increases;
- albumin is reduced;
- gamma globulins increase;
- blood triglycerides increase.
This is how the biochemical blood test for hepatitis C will change. Deciphering such a plan really helps to judge the presence of the disease. And what are the norms of these substances? What limitations help to judge the increase or decrease of a particular component?
Norms of substances in blood biochemistry
In general, the situation is mixed. Today, men and women have different amounts of the listed components in their blood. Has the person been tested for hepatitis C? The interpretation (norm of substances) of blood biochemistry will be as follows:
- liver enzymes in men should be contained in amounts up to 41 IU / l, in women - up to 31 IU / l;
- the level of glutamyltranspeptidase alkaline phosphatase does not exceed 150 IU / l;
- yellow pigment is normal - up to 27-34 micromol / l.
It is on such standards that a person needs to be guided. When donating blood for biochemical analysis in private clinics, the limit values of the norm will necessarily be indicated directly in the results.
PCR diagnostics
The next very informative test is PCR analysis. This option offers a quantitative analysis for hepatitis C. Deciphering the study involves the search for virus cells even at their minimum concentration. The exact result can be obtained after 5 days from the date of the alleged infection.
A little bit about decryption. If the result of the analysis is positive, it means that hepatitis C is present in the body. At the time of blood sampling from a vein, the disease is in the active phase.
A feature of PCR diagnostics is that it can be both qualitative and quantitative. There is no significant difference in this. The interpretation of the results will be the same. If hepatitis C is detected (qualitative analysis), a transcript of the test result will indicate a positive reaction. That is, the test will be positive. Otherwise, it will be negative.
About quantitative PCR
Now a little about the quantitative analysis of PCR for hepatitis C. The thing is that this option is chosen after the detection of disease cells in the blood. It helps to establish the degree of development of the disease. A great way to find the right treatment.
Hepatitis C virus found? Quantitative analysis, the interpretation of which will be given below, shows the degree of viral load on the body. She can be tall and not very.
So, if the qualitative PCR analysis is positive, it is recommended to give preference to quantitative. It will help to understand how to properly treat a person.
In decoding the assays, the volume of HVC RNA contained in the blood will be implied. If the results showed 400,000 IU / L, then this result can be considered average. Accordingly, indications below the indicated minimum are a low viral load. And when the value of the quantitative analysis for hepatitis C is higher than 800,000 IU / l, a strong load of the disease on the body is assumed.
Immunological diagnostics
Among other things, it is possible to determine antibodies to hepatitis C. The interpretation of the analysis is reduced to indicating antibodies not only to all types of the disease under study, but also to hepatic antigens.
This diagnostic option can be carried out both in the form of a conventional study, and through an express test. For the latter, both blood and saliva are used. When staining the strip in a certain color (according to the instructions), we can talk about the presence of antibodies to hepatitis C in humans. The advantage of rapid tests is that they are allowed to be performed at home.
Typically, a transcript of a study boils down to indicating the presence / absence of antibodies to the disease being studied. If a positive result has come, they are present in the body. Otherwise, talking about the presence of antibodies to hepatitis and liver cells is impossible.
Conclusions and Conclusions
Now it’s clear how to prepare for a particular diagnosis, as well as how to decipher the results of the studies. In fact, everything is much simpler than it seems.
The simplest solution in the presence of the studied disease is a blood test for hepatitis C. Deciphering PCR diagnostics (the most informative way) is to determine the presence / absence of the virus, as well as to determine its load on the body. There is nothing difficult about this.
As a rule, all of the listed diagnostic methods may turn out to be false positive or false negative. Therefore, it is recommended that if you suspect hepatitis, take several different tests. Only in this way will it be possible to 100% confirm the results.
In practice, incorrect diagnostic results are not very common. Usually they occur when the biomaterial sampling procedure is violated for further research. For example, with contamination of urine or blood. If there is heparin in the blood, the results may come wrong. Chemical or protein substances are several other reasons why an analysis for hepatitis C does not allow you to accurately determine whether a person is sick. For suspicious results, it is recommended to repeat the study after some time.