Loss of performance in hepatitis C
The loss of performance refers primarily to the decrease in physical capacity. In hepatitis C, this is mainly due to the reduced metabolic performance of the liver. On the one hand, the food that the affected person ingests is not properly metabolized.
As a result, significantly fewer nutrients enter the body. So at some point there is a chronic lack of energy. In addition, the liver normally contains a lot of glycogen.
Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates. If, for example, energy is needed during physical exertion, the glycogen can be broken down from the liver and thus made available to the body. This mechanism is disrupted in hepatitis C, so that energy reserves are lacking.
FatigueFatigue in hepatitis C
The fatigue and exhaustion caused by hepatitis C is called organic fatigue. In this case, the cause of this fatigue is not lack of sleep. Instead, a disease causes the body to be increasingly in need of recovery.
The course of the symptom can be very different. In some cases there is initially a slight tiredness and exhaustion. This becomes stronger and stronger as the disease progresses.
In others, the fatigue occurs suddenly. Both variants can lead to permanent physical weakness and fatigue. If hepatitis C becomes chronic, the body has to fight the inflammation permanently.
This requires an increased expenditure of energy and performance and can lead to increased fatigue. At the same time, the liver can no longer perform its metabolic tasks completely. As a result, the body lacks nutrients that are needed for energy production.
In addition, potentially toxic substances accumulate in the body. Both of these put additional strain on the body and cause fatigue. In the advanced stage of hepatitis C, toxins can be deposited directly in the brain. There, they directly disturb the brain function and can cause fatigue or mental confusion (encephalopathy).
Hepatitis C rash
Many diseases of the liver are accompanied by very unspecific symptoms, so that they are often difficult to diagnose, especially at the beginning. For this reason, one should be clairaudient even when the symptoms are small. These signs include in particular the so-called hepatic skin signs.
They cannot be specifically assigned to a single liver disease, but they give rise to the general suspicion of a liver disease. The hepatic signs can manifest themselves in different parts of the body. Small vascular abnormalities are particularly common on the head and trunk.
The superficial, very small blood vessels are stretched so that red net-like structures can be seen on the skin surface. The most common feature is the so-called spider naevi. In the case of very advanced liver damage, larger, deeper lying vessels can also be affected.
They form a so-called “caput medusae” around the navel. There are also special hepatic signs on the hands and feet. The nails can become larger, usually they are more rounded and have a strong bulge outwards. This phenomenon is called watch glass nails. Red rashes also appear on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
