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Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects and damages the liver, affecting the organ’s ability to metabolize, detoxify, and help with digestion functions. The infection can lead to acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, neurocognitive impairment, and potential decline in daily functioning. An estimated 3.2 million people are infected with HCV in the United States, with approximately 30,000 new infections reported each year.
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Etiology
HCV is spread when the blood of an infected host enters the body of a non-infected person. Most commonly this occurs through sharing contaminated intravenous drug paraphernalia and blood transfusions or organ transplants that took place before 1992. HCV replicates in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and bone marrow. The immune system is composed of white bloods cells that help fight infection....
References and Further Readings
Catie, J. E., Letendra, S. L., Woods, S. P., Barakat, F., Perry, W., Cherner, M., Umlauf, A., Franklin, D., Heaton, R. K., Hassanein, T., & Grant, I. (2014). Persistent neurocognitive decline in a clinical sample of hepatitis C virus-infected persons receive interferon and ribavirin treatment. Journal of Neurovirology, 20, 561–570.
Kohli, A., Shaffer, A., Sherman, A., & Kottilil, S. (2014). Treatment of hepatitis C: A systematic review. JAMA, 312(6), 631–640.
McAndrews, M. P., Farcnik, K., Carlen, P., Damyanovich, A., Mrkonjic, M., Jones, S., & Heathcote, E. J. (2005). Prevalence and significance of neurocognitive dysfunction in hepatitis C in the absence of correlated risk factors. Hepatology, 41(4), 801–808. doi:10.1002/hep.20635.
Sakamoto, M., Woords, S. P., Kolessar, M., Kriz, D., Anderson, J. R., Olaverria, H., Sasaki, A., Chang, M., Flora, K. D., Loftis, J. M., & Huckans, M. (2013). Protective effects of higher cognitive reserve for neuropsychological and daily functioning among individuals infected with hepatitis C. Journal of Neurovirology, 19, 442–451.
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Gill, S.K., Demidenko, M.I., Lovejoy, T.I. (2017). Hepatitis C and Cognitive Functioning. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101941-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101941-2
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Latest
Hepatitis C and Cognitive Functioning- Published:
- 06 April 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101941-2
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Original
Hepatitis C and Cognitive Functioning- Published:
- 18 January 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101941-1