INFO: THE REASONS TO TREAT CHRONIC HEPATITIS C - by Palmer, MD

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Thank you for info 'Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Subject: INFO: THE REASONS TO TREAT CHRONIC HEPATITIS C - by Palmer, MDTo: hepatitiscsupportgroupfordummies Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 1:50 PM

THE REASONS TO TREAT CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

Chronic hepatitis C will not go away on its own. In most people, it is a slowly progressive disease. Not only does HCV do its damage slowly, but it usually does its damage silently. This explains why many people with chronic hepatitis C (especially those who have no symptoms), react with confusion when advised by their doctors to start treatment with interferon - an injectable medication that has potential side effects. “Why should I be treated? I feel fine!” is a comment that liver specialists commonly hear. Well, the answer to this question is that the benefits of treatment far outweigh the risks in most cases.

People with chronic hepatitis C are at risk for developing cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Once cirrhosis has developed, the likelihood of responding to treatment is greatly reduced. Once a person develops liver failure and/or liver cancer, conventional medical therapies are unlikely to help and may actually worsen the patient’s condition. And, if a person with HCV experiences liver failure and/or liver cancer, and is fortunate enough to receive a liver transplant, HCV recurs in the new liver if it was not eradicated from the body prior to transplantation. Thus, therapy for HCV would become

necessary post-transplantatio n anyway (and this is in addition to a bunch of other medications required to suppress the rejection of the new liver). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to attempt to eradicate HCV from the body in order to stop or slow progression of disease before any liver-related complications develop. The sooner a person seeks treatment, the more likely she is to reap its benefits—benefits that include long-term eradication of HCV from the body (i.e. cure) and a reduced incidence of progression to cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. And people who are treated in the early stages of disease are less likely to experience the adverse side effects sometimes associated with interferon therapy.

Treatment with interferon not only slows progression of disease, but may actually reverse liver damage that has already been done- even in the early stages of cirrhosis! So, with treatment, even people who have progressed to cirrhosis may eradicate HCV from their bodies and may achieve a resolution of scarring as well.

Studies have demonstrated that people with symptoms due to HCV (such as fatigue) experience a significant improvement in their quality of life once the virus is eradicated from their bodies. It has been shown that patients treated with interferon are less likely to die due to liver-related complications than patients not treated with interferon. These results have been shown to apply to patients who achieved sustained viral clearance as well as those who did not.

Palmer, MD

[Guest guest]

THE REASONS TO TREAT CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

Chronic hepatitis C will not go away on its own. In most people, it is a slowly progressive disease. Not only does HCV do its damage slowly, but it usually does its damage silently. This explains why many people with chronic hepatitis C (especially those who have no symptoms), react with confusion when advised by their doctors to start treatment with interferon - an injectable medication that has potential side effects. “Why should I be treated? I feel fine!” is a comment that liver specialists commonly hear. Well, the answer to this question is that the benefits of treatment far outweigh the risks in most cases.

People with chronic hepatitis C are at risk for developing cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Once cirrhosis has developed, the likelihood of responding to treatment is greatly reduced. Once a person develops liver failure and/or liver cancer, conventional medical therapies are unlikely to help and may actually worsen the patient’s condition. And, if a person with HCV experiences liver failure and/or liver cancer, and is fortunate enough to receive a liver transplant, HCV recurs in the new liver if it was not eradicated from the body prior to transplantation. Thus, therapy for HCV would become necessary post-transplantation anyway (and this is in addition to a bunch of other medications required to suppress the rejection of the new liver). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to attempt to eradicate HCV from the body in order to stop or slow progression of disease before any liver-related complications develop. The sooner a person seeks treatment, the more likely she is to reap its benefits—benefits that include long-term eradication of HCV from the body (i.e. cure) and a reduced incidence of progression to cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. And people who are treated in the early stages of disease are

less likely to experience the adverse side effects sometimes associated with interferon therapy.

Treatment with interferon not only slows progression of disease, but may actually reverse liver damage that has already been done- even in the early stages of cirrhosis! So, with treatment, even people who have progressed to cirrhosis may eradicate HCV from their bodies and may achieve a resolution of scarring as well.

Studies have demonstrated that people with symptoms due to HCV (such as fatigue) experience a significant improvement in their quality of life once the virus is eradicated from their bodies. It has been shown that patients treated with interferon are less likely to die due to liver-related complications than patients not treated with interferon. These results have been shown to apply to patients who achieved sustained viral clearance as well as those who did not.

Palmer, MD