“We can cure Hepatitis C”
April 13, 2007 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
A celebration is in order!
Researchers of liver disease are disclosing that Hepatitis C patients can be completely cured of the viral-borne disease (HCV). A study conducted on 997 patients who were able to achieve complte response to treatment showed that only 8 came down with the disease again.
“I tell my patients who achieve a sustained virologic response to go home and get on with their lives. I tell them that there is less than a 0.5 percent chance that the disease will ever return,” said Mark Swain, professor of medicine at the University of Calgary in Canada, who presented results of an international trial at the opening session of the 42nd European Association for the Study of the Liver in Barcelona, Spain.
This finding offers much needed hope to chronic hepatitis C sufferers and HIV patients who are at risk for the disease. An estimated 300,000 Americans are infected with both HIV and hepatitis C. Hepatitis is a liver disease caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) that can result in cirrhosis, liver failure and death. Chronic infection is known to occur in 55-85% of infected persons, and chronic liver disease in 70% of chronically infected persons. HCV is spread through sharing needles or “works” when “shooting” drugs, through needlesticks or sharps exposures on the job, or from an infected mother to her baby during birth.
[Sources: Science Daily; CDC; whyfiles]
Tags: Hepatitis C, cure, treatment, HIV, viral disease, virus
This is fantastic news! Unfortunately, most Americans are unfamiliar with this infection, that happens to be the leading cause of liver transplantation and liver cancer in the U.S., and is estimated to be present in 1.8 percent of individuals. Please keep spreading the news. If people are not even aware of the possibility of infection, they won’t seek treatment! Thanks!
Lynne Eldridge M.D.
Author, “Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time”
http://www.avoidcancernow.com
My pleasure, Dr. Eldridge. There is indeed a great need to educate the public on hepatitis C infections, and especially since it’s not that hard to avoid or get treatment for. I guess because symptoms are mild in most people, then they don’t feel the need to get immediate treatment. Would that then add to the risk of getting a liver infection/cancer?
my boyfriend is hcv possitive. he has been complaining alot lately about not feeling good. now he has flu like symptoms but i’m scared to give him anything due to the fact that i dont know what he can or cant take. please let me know something i can get for him to take that wont hurt his liver.